Senate Republicans Threaten Shutdown Over Vaccine Mandate
The New York Times
With federal funding set to lapse on Friday, President Biden’s requirement for large employers is a sticking point over a stopgap spending bill.
WASHINGTON — A group of Senate Republicans is threatening to delay action on a spending bill needed to avert a lapse in federal funding on Friday unless it also bars enforcement of the Biden administration’s vaccine-and-testing mandate for large employers, heightening the threat of a government shutdown.
With Congress lagging on finalizing the dozen annual spending bills needed to keep the government running, there is broad agreement that lawmakers will need to pass a stopgap measure this week to stave off a shutdown.
But just two days before funding is set to lapse, Democrats and Republicans remain at odds over how long the temporary measure should stretch into 2022 and other details. Congressional leaders in both parties had publicly downplayed the chances of a shutdown, but they conceded on Wednesday that the funding deadline had increased the leverage of lawmakers pressing their own agendas.
