Members of the Senate and House of Representatives face a Sept. 30 deadline as they each debate, amend, and approve 11 major spending bills before conference committees can be appointed to iron out differences between them, get them approved by both chambers, and then sent to the president for signature—all while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) deals with the impeachment inquiry he announced on Sept. 12.
If they fail on any of the 11 measures, the government will be at least partially out of funds on Oct. 1 and technically be forced to shutdown. Few in the nation’s capital believe Congress will make that deadline. A shutdown would not stop the impeachment inquiry.
