Reid warns of late nights, weekend work on the budget if Senate doesn't finish CR

By Ramsey Cox - 03/18/13 02:16 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned senators Monday that if they didn’t complete work on the continued spending resolution to fund to government for the remainder of the fiscal year, that votes on the budget resolution could creep into their Easter recess.

“This will be a very full week,” Reid said on the Senate floor Monday. “Senators should expect several long nights and late votes. And we will stay as long as it takes to complete work on both the continuing resolution and the budget resolution — even if that means working into the weekend and the Easter/Passover recess."

Reid said there still wasn’t a final agreement on amendment votes to the continued spending resolution, negotiated by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and ranking member Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Shelby and Mikulski worked through the weekend to ensure that a deal would be reached. Reid said he believed a breakthrough was close, but said it would require members on both sides to give up having votes on their amendments.

“Unfortunately, there has been difficulty getting senators on both sides to agree to a finite list of amendments,” Reid said.

The Senate bill added three full appropriations measures to the House version. The House bill, H.R. 933, funded Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs programs, while the Senate version adds appropriations for Agriculture, Homeland Security and the Commerce, Justice and Science funds.

Reid said senators needed to finish work on that bill in order to send it back to the House for final passage otherwise the government could shut down after March 27. He said that if there isn't an agreement on amendments, there will be a 5:30 p.m. vote on the motion to end debate.

Reid also wants to finish work on spending bill by the end of Monday because 50 hours of debate is required on the budget resolution, which Reid wants to pass before senators leave for Easter recess.

“If we don’t finish over the weekend we’ll need to come back after Passover,” Reid said.

The Senate Budget Committee completed work on Chairwoman Patty Murray’s (D-Wash.) budget at the end of last week. Once on the floor, senators are allowed to offer unlimited germane amendments, meaning long nights voting on possibly hundreds of amendments later this week.