The federal government may be heading toward a partial shutdown as soon as this weekend as Democrats and Republicans remain at great odds over funding bill details, including how much to spend on regular appropriations. In addition to disagreements over additional border funding, Ukraine aid, and disaster assistance, neither the House nor the Senate have fully embraced the spending limits agreed upon in the May debt limit deal, with the House seeking to spend less and the Senate seeking to spend more by abusing a budget deal loophole.

The May Fiscal Responsibility Act set spending limits on discretionary funding but left a loophole for any spending designated as an emergency. In 1991, the Office of Management and Budget laid out five criteria all emergency and disaster spending should meet: necessary; sudden; urgent; unforeseen; and not permanent. Under current law, however, Congress can label pretty much anything as emergency spending, making it exempt from budgetary enforcement mechanisms.