Senate Close To Agreement On Short-Term Funding Bill

Leadership of the US Senate have indicated that lawmakers are close to passage of short-term measure to keep the federal government funded until December 18.

• Comments from Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) per Chad Pergram at Fox News: "We always have this deadline looming...The good news is we've reached a bipartisan agreement on spending bill. I don't believe the government is going to shut down."
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-KY) said a short time ago that he believes the Senate will pass the measure today, citing the importance of the ~USD$12b in Ukraine aid attached to the bill: 'It's literally an investment in our own national security and of our allies."
• Senator John Thune (R-SD): “There's nothing right now that I can see that stands in the way of this wrapping up.”
• House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) stated an intention to whip against the bill in protest to the timeframe of the stop-gap, allowing Democrat to pass a FY23 budget during a lame duck Congress, but the move is not predicted to impede passage of bill after receipt from the Senate today.