Newsroom
Lawmakers seek multiple routes to fund gov't
The House and Senate are pursuing various options to end the partial government shutdown that is now in its 34th day. Credit unions around the country have stepped up to support members whose pay has been affected; NAFCU is providing credit unions with a direct way to contact their lawmakers to share how the shutdown is hurting their communities and how their institution is helping members, and to urge an end to it.
Contact your representative and senators through NAFCU's Grassroots Action Center.
The House Ways and Means Committee had scheduled a hearing to examine the shutdown's impact on taxes and the IRS. However, the hearing was canceled last night as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declined the invite to testify. NAFCU sent a letter to Committee Chair Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Ranking Member Kevin Brady, R-Texas, to share how credit unions and their members are impacted by the shutdown.
Congress and the administration remain at odds over a solution to the lapse in funding that has shuttered nine federal departments and various agencies. President Donald Trump continues to press for full funding to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Today, the Senate is expected to vote on two funding amendments: one would fund the departments for the rest of the fiscal year and also includes border wall funding, disaster aid and an extension of protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; the other would fund the departments through Feb. 8 and includes disaster relief money. Both options would need 60 votes to advance; it is unclear that either would reach that threshold.
The Democratic-controlled House has pursued piecemeal and short-term funding strategies in an attempt to reopen the government while allowing conversations on issues such as border security to continue. Yesterday, the House passed a stopgap spending measure that would fund the closed departments through Feb. 28 as well as a measure to fund all the departments – except the Department of Homeland Security – through Sept. 30.
However, the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to take up any legislation that doesn't have the support of the president.
NAFCU remains engaged on Capitol Hill. Throughout funding discussions, the association has advocated for credit union funding priorities, such as full funding for the NCUA's Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF), Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund and the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) and 504 loan programs.