Pelosi, Mnuchin agree to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month

The informal agreement would stave off a government shutdown after Sept. 30

ByBenjamin Siegel
September 3, 2020, 5:32 PM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed on Tuesday to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month by taking up a stopgap government funding bill, according to a person familiar with their Tuesday phone call.

The informal agreement would stave off a government shutdown after Sept. 30, and avoid entangling the issue with ongoing coronavirus relief negotiations, which have been at a standstill for several weeks.

PHOTO: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a news conference at the Mission Education Center Elementary School, Sept. 2, 2020, in San Francisco.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a news conference at the Mission Education Center Elementary School, Sept. 2, 2020, in San Francisco.
Eric Risberg/AP

The proposal to fund government at current levels could avoid a shutdown before the November election, and potentially through the end of the year, depending on the agreement reached by Democrats and the Trump administration.

"House Democrats are for a clean continuing resolution," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told ABC News.

PHOTO: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before a hearing of the House subcommittee investigating the federal response to the coronavirus crisis on Capitol Hill, Sept. 1, 2020, in Washington.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies before a hearing of the House subcommittee investigating the federal response to the coronavirus crisis on Capitol Hill, Sept. 1, 2020, in Washington.
Graeme Jennings/Pool via Getty Images

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the Pelosi-Mnuchin phone call.