The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) last week that would fund the federal government at FY 2010 levels until September 30, 2011, CQ.com reports. This spending plan, however, “got a decidedly cold reception from many Senate Republicans,” and it’s unclear whether the CR would receive the 60 votes necessary to pass in the Senate. As Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said, there is a growing consensus among Senate Republicans that a short-term continuing resolution, which would push final FY11 spending decisions into the new year for the 112th Congress to tackle, “is the smartest thing to do right now.”

Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) is in the process of assembling an FY 2011 omnibus spending package that he could offer as a substitute to the House-passed CR. It is also unclear whether Inouye’s package would receive 60 votes; leading Senate Republicans have been unenthusiastic:

“I am not going to vote for the omnibus, and, from what I hear about the CR, I don’t think it looks very good either,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

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