Senate leaders reach deal on short-term spending bill in push to avert shutdown

With just days to go before the government runs out of money, the Senate has unveiled a bipartisan stopgap bill in a bid to avert a shutdown - but there's no guarantee that it will be able to pass in the House as a bloc of conservatives rail against the prospect of a short-term funding extension.

The Senate stopgap bill would keep the government funded until November 17 and includes $6.2 billion in Ukraine aid. The addition of Ukraine funding could further exacerbate tensions with the House since many conservative Republicans are opposed to sending further aid to the war-torn country. The bill also includes $6 billion for natural disasters.

Schumer said earlier Tuesday, "We will continue to fund the government at present levels while maintaining our commitment to Ukraine's security and humanitarian needs, while also ensuring those impacted by natural disasters across the country begin to get the resources they need."

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters that funding for Ukraine should not be included in a short-term spending package, and instead should be a standalone bill.

"Would it be on the CR? My answer would be no, that should be dealt with in a supplemental," the California Republican said, a reference to a continuing resolution, or CR, which would be a short-term funding patch.

"I don't quite understand when you have all these people across the country talking about the challenges happening in America today, that people would go and say, 'Oh we need to go and do Ukraine and ignore what's happening along our border.' I think that would be the wrong approach," he said.

McCarthy has remained noncommittal on whether he would put a bipartisan Senate-passed stopgap measure to avert a shutdown on the floor this week ahead of the deadline.