WASHINGTON, D.C.- On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to make progress on a military spending bill as the nation inches toward another government shutdown. Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood said the process between now and the potential shutdown is going to require many hard decisions. "Democracy is messy," he said, "Certainly, right now on the Republican side, we have work to do. But we've been here before."

Flood went on to say that he has faith that Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy will work with lawmakers to not only avoid a shutdown, but also address the country's $33 trillion debt. "It's either we deal with this now or we have a systemic problem 10 years in the future," he said. Flood finished by saying that lawmakers must find common ground, and that sentiment was echoed by Rep. Don Bacon. "We've not been able to get the other appropriations bills because we have about five to ten people who have opposed them at every stop," said Bacon.

Despite the frustration felt by Nebraska's representatives, Bacon said a coalition of lawmakers is working on a continuing resolution, which would continue to fund federal agencies while lawmakers attempt to reach an agreement. However, they're running into issues with that effort as well. "Here again, we have about 10 to maybe 15 people that will vote against any CR (continuing resolution)," he said, "The takeaway is, from my vantage point, is we got to be bipartisan. We got to work across the aisle and find an agreement that we can live with and the Democrats can live with."

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