New Deal to Reopen Federal Government Until Feb. 15
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other parts of the federal government will reopen for a few weeks while border security is ironed out, according to a deal President Donald Trump announced Friday.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the deal would pass both the Senate and the House on Friday and re-open the government through 15 February. And the government will be back open on Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in a statement: “I was glad to see today the president’s announcement that he and Democrats have reached an agreement that will immediately re-open the government, while providing the room to negotiate a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.”
After 35 days of the shutdown, such a deal will put back to work hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
But FDA could be in a bind once again by 15 February, depending on the amount of user fees it’s able to collect over the next three weeks. An FDA spokesperson told Focus that the agency can only collect fees during the period for which the government is open.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb tweeted: “I'm delighted by the announcement by @Potus of a deal to re-open the federal government, I'm inspired by the men and women of FDA who held fast to their critical posts through this challenge, and to my many colleagues on furlough, I can't wait to welcome you back. We're one FDA!”