To say that we're only a few months away from a government shutdown is not just a quip I regularly make; it's a very real situation that we will undoubtedly face this Fall.
House Republicans sitting on the Appropriations Committee and subcommittees certainly seem to think we're headed in that direction and they would know since their garbage appropriation bills are nudging us in that direction.
Some House Republicans are already bracing themselves for a temporary solution if senior House leadership fails to move the needle prior to October 1st.
Short of that, appropriators will press for quick passage in September of a “continuing resolution” to keep the government funded at current levels through December and begin budget talks.
“We all know there’s going to have to be a short-term C.R. to take us from September to December,” [appropriations subcommittee chairman Charlie Dent] said. “And I would hope sometime between now and then, we’ll have a negotiated budget agreement."
For his part, Speaker of the House John Boehner says President Obama need only ask if he wants to engage in budget negotiations; a ship that sailed out of port years ago.
John Boehner's coveted appropriations process, which has produced a series of unacceptable bills that the president will not sign, is his responsibility. Boehner set a goal of completing the entire appropriations process for the first time since Democrats last controlled the House and, while that is a worthy goal, we've always known the Flying Monkey Caucus and the Republican
party's zeal for obstructing the Obama administration would complicate the process.
It seems entirely possible to me the appropriations process will not be successfully completed and signed into law again until at least the fall of 2017 and we will continue to operate under the current status quo and a series of continuing resolutions in the meantime. It's also possible the current status quo could continue beyond that point if there are no significant changes in House leadership following the 2016 election.
It may be easy to forget how government is suppose to function. This ain't it.