WASHINGTON — Congress has passed a five-day continuing resolution to keep the federal government from a partial shutdown until next Wednesday.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine's 1st District says that while she is hopeful a final deal can be reached on a budget for this year by Wednesday, she would not be surprised if it takes longer.
"We are hoping that a deal will process by then but look, you come in on Tuesday, we could be here until Friday, we could be here until Christmas Eve," she says. "It's always hard to get people to make this decision. It's particularly contentious."
Pingree says what is holding up the process is not spending levels for the various federal programs in the more than $1 trillion spending package; it is unrelated measures lawmakers from both parties are trying to add to the bill.
She says some Republicans want to defund Planned Parenthood and some Democrats want to repeal the ban on the Centers for Disease Control doing studies on gun violence. She says both proposals are very controversial.
"My understanding is that we are pretty close on all the dollar amounts, it's the riders," she says. "And the riders in a contentious Congress become the way people slip in language on a whole variety of issues to get them passed with everything else."
