The key word here is simply.  Congress can pass and should pass what is referred to as a “clean” CR, where nothing changes from last year.  It’s not ideal, but they’ve already missed the boat on –that’s where they actually move all 12 spending bills through regular order.  If they can pass a clean bill, the CR is used simply as a stop gap measure to keep things functioning until they can pass the remaining appropriations bills later this year or until they pass a package of all the appropriations bills, called an omnibus.   It’s likely the CR would keep the government running until early December.

Second, members of Congress are basically arm-twisted into supporting the increases or voting against keeping the entire government open.   Forcing lawmakers into a corner often leads to their support of bad spending add-ons in order to support the larger bill.  It’s also likely that the only members who are rewarded in the cherry-picking are well-positioned and helping out their industry friends.

Time is ticking. If Congress doesn’t act, the feds turn into a pumpkin come October 1st.  Instead of mucking up the must-pass Continuing Resolution, Congress should keep it clean.  Taxpayers pay the price when Congress can’t get their work done, and a ballooning CR is a bad note for lawmakers to go home on.