Democrat-led House passes short-term budget through Dec. 11 after Senate GOP opposed earlier version

The Democratic-led House passed a continuing resolution on Tuesday evening to keep the government funded through Dec. 11 and avoid a government shutdown.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nina Lowey proposed the CR on Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had called for the proposal to be changed before passage because it didn't include replenishment of the Commodity Credit Corporation, which aids farmers.

"House Democrats’ rough draft of a government funding bill shamefully leaves out key relief and support that American farmers need. This is no time to add insult to injury and defund help for farmers and rural America," he tweeted Monday.

McConnell also said the CR was "a message to farm country to drop dead." 

Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Thune called the lack of farm relief "a really bad decision" politically for Democrats. 

The House bill was later modified shortly before its passage to include replenishment of the CCC and added nearly $8 billion in "vital needed nutrition assistance for the American people," according to the House Appropriations Committee.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the proposed bill would cost $1.4 trillion on an "annualized" basis.

A committee spokesperson emphasized that the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 would keep the government fully funded to December 11 of this year but that the CBO's cost estimate is annualized "as if appropriations were provided for the entire fiscal year."

"It continues funding at fiscal year 2020 levels except for the anomalies included in the bill text and described in the summary," the spokesperson said.

An expert close to the budgeting process told Just the News that some of the emergency stimulus spending from the CARES Act and other relief legislation are included in the CBO's score of the proposed CR since the outlay is in 2021.

Some of these items include allowing Medicare loans to be paid back at a later date, transferring money to the airport trust fund and a one-year extension of highway funding.