Washington’s Playing Chicken With the Calendar—Again

Congress is staring down the fiscal year’s finish line with shoelaces tied together. If lawmakers don’t pass spending bills—or a short-term patch— by September 30 , the lights go dim for big parts of the federal government. That’s not brinkmanship; that’s the law. When appropriations lapse, agencies freeze much of their work, hundreds of thousands of employees get furloughed, and services the public relies on sputter or stop.

The fight this year has a familiar shape: sharp disagreements over budget levels, where to prioritize dollars for the military and social programs, and whether to staple controversial policy riders to must-pass funding. The House and Senate aren’t aligned, majorities are thin, and the clock is ruthless. In

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