Health Programs On Verge Of Expiring Amid Congressional Gridlock
A number of federal health programs are caught up in lawmakers' disarray surrounding spending bills that is threatening to shut down the government. Axios rounds up the list, while other news outlets report on the funding negotiations.
Axios:
Health Programs Could Be Stranded By Government Shutdown
The threat of a government shutdown is hanging over Capitol Hill. But so is the realization that gridlock could claim an array of health programs that are due to sunset at the end of the month without congressional action. (Knight and Sullivan, 9/18)
The Washington Post:
House Republicans Propose Short-Term Funding Deal That Senate Likely To Reject
Half a dozen House Republicans announced a proposed deal Sunday to temporarily fund the government with the goal of averting a shutdown at the end of the month. But it is far from certain that the proposal would unite their fractious conference to send a bill to the Senate, where it is expected to be rejected. (Sotomayor and Caldwell, 9/17)
Pew Research Center:
Congress Has Long Struggled To Pass Spending Bills On Time
Congress’ chronic inability to follow its own appropriations process is hardly new. In fact, in the nearly five decades that the current system for budgeting and spending tax dollars has been in place, Congress has passed all its required appropriations measures on time only four times: fiscal 1977 (the first full fiscal year under the current system), 1989, 1995 and 1997. And even those last three times, Congress was late in passing the budget blueprint that, in theory at least, precedes the actual spending bills. (Desilver, 9/13)
