WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday took a step forward on a bipartisan bill meant to stop the government from shutting down in just five days, while the House sought to push ahead with a conflicting measure backed only by Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Senate voted 77-19 to begin debate on a measure that would fund the government through Nov. 17, and includes around $6 billion for domestic disaster responses and another roughly $6 billion in aid for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, however, planned to push along with its own partisan approach that was unlikely to win support in the Democratic-majority Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The House took a procedural vote to move ahead on four spending bills that reflect conservative priorities and stand no chance of becoming law. Even if enacted, the measures fund only a portion of the government and would not avert a shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The split between the two chambers suggests the federal government is increasingly likely to enter its fourth shutdown in a decade on Sunday, a pattern of partisan gridlock that has begun to darken Wall Street’s view of U.S. government credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell worked in tandem to win passage of a bipartisan short-term extension of federal funding at current levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday told reporters he would seek approval from his splintered Republicans on a bill that also would temporarily fund the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he intends to attach tough border and immigration restrictions that are unlikely to win support from enough Democrats in the House or Senate to become law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic President Joe Biden and McCarthy had aimed to head off a shutdown this year when they agreed in May, at the end of a standoff over the federal debt ceiling, to discretionary spending of $1.59 trillion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House on Tuesday urged Republicans to honor that deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“House Republicans should join the Senate in doing their job, stop playing political games with peoples’ lives, and abide by the bipartisan deal two-thirds of them voted for in May,” said Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But hardliners to the right of McCarthy have rejected that deal, demanding another $120 billion in cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy’s measure would restart construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, a signature policy of former President Donald Trump, and tighten immigration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics have said it would effectively put an end to U.S. asylum for immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy called on the Biden and congressional Democrats to reconsider their opposition. The top Senate Republican pleaded with his House counterpart to embrace the Senate bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Government shutdowns are bad news, whichever way you’d look at it,” McConnell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy countered: “Let’s do something on the border, keep the government open and show this nation that we can do it right, and solve the rest of our problems as we go.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed and a wide range of services, from economic data releases to nutrition benefits<\/u><\/a>, will be suspended beginning on Sunday if the two sides do not reach agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The standoff has caused concern<\/u><\/a> at credit rating agency Moody’s, though it is unclear whether it will hurt U.S. creditworthiness, as past shutdowns have not had a significant impact on the world’s largest economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, has cheered on the shutdown talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cuts that hardliners are pushing for only account for a fraction of the total U.S. budget, which will come to $6.4 trillion for this fiscal year. Lawmakers are not considering cuts<\/u><\/a> to popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare, which are projected to grow dramatically as the population ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Congress has shut down the government 14 times since 1981<\/u><\/a>, though most of those funding gaps have lasted only a day or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n