Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-D.) said Sunday that if Democrats vote to advance the House-passed continuing resolution, he would offer another stopgap spending measure, known as a minibus, with a joint expiration date with three full-year appropriations bills as an alternative.
Thune told reporters the Senate would vote on a resolution to open the government on Sunday afternoon there will be no vote on saturday Afternoon.
The text of the law is expected to be released on Sunday afternoon.
It is expected to include regular appropriations bills to fund military construction, Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the Legislative Branch — which have already held conferences with House appropriators — and a stopgap measure to fund the remainder of the federal government through the end of January.
Thune said he would move to replace the House-passed continuing resolution, a “clean” bill that funds the government through Nov. 21, with a joint continuing resolution and the minibus, which a Senate GOP aide dubbed the “criminibus.”
Republican senators gathered in the Mansfield Room on Sunday over pizza from Andy’s Pizza and leftover Halloween candy to discuss their next steps.
