The House of Representatives and Senate face two deadlines in the next four weeks in which to agree on 12 major federal funding bills that will keep key parts of the government from shutting down — and neither chamber will be in session till next week.
A lot is at stake if they fail to meet those challenges, which they have so far failed at twice since last fall. This includes the prospect that many government operations would be forced to close or run on greatly reduced staff with limits on some public services if they are not properly funded.
