Is Congress Stumbling into Another Budget Crisis?

Congress must approve more than $1.1 trillion of funding by Friday to keep the government operating for the remainder of fiscal 2016. But congressional leaders are far from reaching an agreement, raising the possibility of yet another budget crisis by the end of the week.

Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress spent last weekend desperately seeking a compromise on spending, taxes and key policy measures that would enable lawmakers to adjourn for the remainder of the holiday season and then turn their attention to the

While there appears to be little appetite even among the most rabid of conservative Republicans for a repeat of the 2013 partial government shutdown, the early signs this week is that a final deal is highly elusive and that Congress may have no choice but to kick the can down the road by adopting another short-term extensions of spending authority -- a “continuing resolution” -- to keep the government afloat.

New House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) made it clear in a speech last week that he has no patience with another government spending crisis and that his “number one goal for next year is to put together a complete alternative to the left’s agenda,” including a comprehensive GOP replacement for the Affordable Care Act. But in an interview on Monday with a radio station in his home town of Janesville, Ryan voiced doubt that Congress could complete its work by the end of this week, according to Politico.

http://news.yahoo.com/congress-stumbling-another-budget-crisis-201600805.html