Congress says it wants to avoid a shutdown. But the House and Senate are moving even further apart

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congress is starkly divided over very different paths to preventing a federal shutdown — the Senate charging ahead with a bipartisan package to temporarily fund the government but the House slogging through a longshot effort with no real chance of finishing by Saturday’s deadline.

With days remaining before a federal closure, the stakes are rising with no resolution at hand.

A shutdown would furlough millions of federal employees, leave the military without pay, disrupt air travel and cut off vital safety net services, and it would be politically punishing to lawmakers whose job it is to fund government.

President Joe Biden, who earlier this year reached a budget deal with Speaker Kevin McCarthy that became law, believes it’s up to the House Republicans to deliver.

“A deal is a deal,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “This is for them to fix.”

Late Tuesday, the Senate pushed ahead in sweeping bipartisan fashion to break the stalemate, advancing a temporary measure, called a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep government running through Nov. 17. It would maintain funding at current levels with a $6 billion boost for Ukraine and $6 billion for U.S. disaster relief, among other provisions.

It’s on track for Senate approval later this week but faces long odds in the House.

FILE — Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is surrounded by reporters looking for updates on plans to fund the government and avert a shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The Republican McCarthy, pushed by a hard-right flank that rejects the deal he made with Biden and is demanding steep spending cuts, showed no interest in the Senate’s