Stopgap funding bill likely as budget negotiations drag on

Congressional lawmakers could bring up a stopgap government funding bill as soon as this week as negotiations between Republicans and Democrats on a larger omnibus spending bill drag on, according to a top House Democrat.

Doing so would avert a government shutdown after Feb. 18, the date set by the last continuing resolution to fund the government that Congress passed in early December. Lawmakers’ goal is a spending bill agreement that lasts through the end of the 2022 fiscal year on Sept. 30.