WASHINGTON (WINA) – The House is a wild card right now, but Virginia’s junior Senator Tim Kaine says his chamber is full-speed ahead on budget terms negotiated by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden last spring. Kaine in a recent conference call with reporters said the Senate needs to send a strong message to the House that “we need to show the American public we can deliver in a bipartisan way”. He noted what he’s said repeatedly since the continuing resolution was passed recently… how odd November 17 for a deadline since in his entire Senate tenure, budgeting has always gone right up toward Christmastime. He expects the funding agreement will be extended until the holidays and they’ll continue negotiations.

Kaine says the Senate this week passed a budget package with funding for the VA, military construction, housing, and agriculture with over 80 positive votes. He says the package is basically what was agreed to between McCarthy and the White House last May.