Congress returns as government shutdown looms

Abstract

Congress has until April 28 to pass a funding bill for fiscal 2017 to avoid a U.S. government shutdown. The deadline comes five days after Congress returned from a two-week recess. Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, have said they do not want a government shutdown. But they will have to work with Democrats to fund the government, a task that has proved difficult in the past few years. The 2017 fiscal year started in October 2016. Since then, Congress has passed a series of temporary measures, called continuing resolutions, to keep the government running at fiscal 2016 levels because lawmakers could not come to an agreement. President Donald J. Trump proposed cuts to the fiscal 2017 budget to help pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but it is unclear how those would fit into the negotiations. Some congressional leaders have indicated that they want a one-week