The House today approved a Senate-passed FY2012 Continuing Resolution (CR) that will keep the government running until October 4.
The House, which is currently in recess, convened in a pro forma session at 11:00am and approved the short-term CR by unanimous consent at 11:05am. The bill now goes to the president who is expected to sign it before the new fiscal year begins on Saturday.
On Monday, the Senate agreed to a CR that calls for funding government agencies between October 1 and November 18 at a rate of $1.043 trillion, the amount for FY2012 set in the Budget Control Act of 2011. It also provides $2.65 billion in FY2012 for disaster relief assistance for Hurricane Irene, recent wildfires, floods and tornadoes, the Mid-Atlantic earthquake, and other natural disasters. None of the disaster funding is offset by cuts to other programs.
However, because the House was in recess, the Senate also passed a four-day CR to avoid a government shutdown and allow the House enough time to fully consider the longer-term CR when it returns next week. The House is expected to vote Tuesday on the CR that runs until November 18.
