Continuing Resolution Likely as Sept. 30 Federal Funding Deadline Approaches

On Sept. 30, federal funding is set to expire, including funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Congress must either pass funding bills for fiscal 2020 or a continuing resolution before the funding deadline to avoid a government shutdown. The House passed its version of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill, which includes funding for U.S. DOT. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version of the THUD bill on Sept. 19, 2019. In order to approve fiscal 2020 funding, the Senate version still needs to be passed by the full Senate and then sent to a conference committee for the House and Senate to reconcile the differences between the two versions of bill. It is unlikely that this will be accomplished before the Sept. 30 deadline. Both the House and Senate are considering a continuing resolution that would extend funding at fiscal 2019 levels through Nov. 21.