Lawmakers rush to avert government shutdown before holidays [Video]

Lawmakers in Washington are racing to prevent a partial government shutdown before the holiday break.”We’ve been working around the clock to get the CR done,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.Congressional leaders are struggling to pass a bipartisan spending agreement for federal agencies.”Time is of the essence to pass this bill before the December 20th deadline,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.Some lawmakers are critical of new additions to the continuing resolution, including a $100 billion disaster relief package to help communities recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and another $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers.”This is not an omnibus. This is a small CR that we’ve had to add things to that were out of our control. These are not manmade disasters,” Johnson said.Political analysts say Johnson could face challenges in getting full support from his own party.”A lot of those hard-core Republicans who actually ousted former Speaker McCarthy …