Congress is teeing up a tight series of votes to fund the government past Sept. 30, with lawmakers giving themselves little time to avoid a shutdown ahead of the looming deadline.
The Senate—which is expected to act first on a short-term stopgap spending bill to fund federal agencies at their current levels for around 10 weeks—will not take up the shutdown-averting bill until just days before current appropriations expire, according to a key negotiator. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who is working with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on a path to include his measure to reform the permitting process necessary to approve major energy projects, said his office would unveil legislative text on Wednesday and the Senate would vote a week later.
