Work continues this week on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government past the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. While the CR end date has not been finalized, Congressional leaders have indicated support for a CR to Dec. 16 despite some pushback from a group of conservative members of the Senate and House, who would like the CR to stretch into next year when the makeup of Congress could be different.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he plans to include the energy-permitting measure authored by Sen. Manchin (D-WV) in the CR, honoring an agreement he made to advance the permitting bill by Sept. 30 as part of their negotiations over the Inflation Reduction Act. Various measures that could also potentially be attached to the stopgap include a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fee agreement and supplemental funding for Ukraine, disaster aid, COVID-19 and monkeypox. Republicans have already expressed reluctance to back the administration's requests for COVID-19 and monkeypox funding, so these items are not likely to be included in the CR since they will potentially jeopardize bipartisan backing and passage of the CR. Read more here.