Congress averts shutdown with short-term spending bill

Congress passed a four-week spending bill Thursday, averting a government shutdown for now, but once again postponing difficult negotiations on budget disagreements. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law Friday.

Key points:

• The stop-gap measure will include funding operations related to immigration through Jan. 19.
• The bill also extends four immigration programs that were scheduled to sunset at the end of the day Friday: E-Verify, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program, the Special Immigrant Religious Worker program and the Conrad 30 Waiver program for foreign doctors.

Background: The House of Representatives and Senate approved the four-week spending bill Thursday, marking the second time this month that Congress opted for a short-term spending measure to avoid a shutdown. Elected officials will now grapple with budget disagreements in January, after the holiday break.

BAL Analysis: Congressional approval of the stopgap spending measure eliminates the possibility of a government shutdown for now. However, the short-term extension does little to resolve a difficult budget fight, which has now been pushed off into January.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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