Senate Republican whip says Congress may need to pass short-term government funding bill into March

The chamber’s no. 2 Republican said it’s “unrealistic” to think Congress can get that work done ahead of two fast approaching deadlines, in part because congressional leadership only this week agreed to topline funding levels and appropriators are now beginning the difficult task of negotiating the individual bills that fund different parts of the government.

“We ought to allow some time to do some work on the other bills and, if there is a CR, maybe in the March timeframe,” he told reporters when asked if a CR would be needed.

Congress passed stopgap legislation late last year, extending government funding until January 19 for parts of the government including military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department. The rest of the government will be funded until February 2.

Thune suggested work could be done now on some of the bills the Senate has started to process and complained Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wasn’t managing the floor properly.

“I would at least put some of the bills on the floor.  I don’t know what Schumer is waiting for,” he said.  “We’re wasting time here that we could be using to have a regular appropriations process.”

He also warned against a government shutdown saying no one wins: “We’ve never seen any political or policy gain come out of a government shutdown.”

On another thorny issue, Thune said he thinks Congress should eventually be able to reach a deal on border security policy that would allow them to approve funding for Ukraine and Israel, but suggested that’s not likely to happen until after Congress deals with government funding issues.

“I think there is a high level of interest in moving that package. But the border stuff, they need to get it right. And up until now, they really hadn’t had a serious conversation about parole, which they are now finally starting to address,” he said.

Schumer and House Speaker Mike Johnson announced over the weekend that they had reached an agreement on topline spending numbers, the first step in the process to fund the federal government. But far right members of the House GOP conference slammed the deal and some have pushed to include border policy changes in exchange for not shutting down the government, which highlights the challenge for Johnson, who is leading an extremely narrow majority.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia echoed Thune that a short-term continuing resolution may be necessary, and she could support it if work continues on the appropriations bills. She cautioned against House Republicans who are threatening to shut down the government in order to press their border legislation, saying that a shutdown “is a road to nowhere.”

“I’ve lived through more than a few shutdowns? A shutdown is a road to nowhere. Nobody wins in a shutdown. and particularly the American people,” she said.

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas agreed that a stop gap spending resolution may be needed – and warned they may even have to use extend that to the end of the fiscal year.

“I think it’d be next to impossible to do anything but a CR,” he said.

CNN’s Kristin Wilson, Morgan Rimmer and Clare Foran contributed to this report.

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