House OKs spending bill; it faces long odds in Senate

Three from GOP oppose the short-term measure

WASHINGTON — House Republicans narrowly passed a four-week spending bill on Thursday night to avert a partial government shutdown, but Democrats appeared to have enough votes to tank the measure in the Senate.

The House vote, 230-197, occurred just 30 hours before current funding runs out — and the high-stakes spending showdown now moves to the Senate.

Three Senate Republicans have said publicly that they will oppose the House bill, and a majority of Senate Democrats also plan to vote no, according to a senior Senate Democratic aide who was not authorized to share the vote tally on the record.

That tally dramatically increases the chances of a shutdown after Friday’s midnight deadline. If no bill is passed by then, the federal government will begin a partial shutdown Saturday, the oneyear anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration.

House Republicans only won passage of the spending measure after they tamped down a revolt from conservatives who threatened to torpedo the bill. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chair of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, wouldn’t say exactly what concessions conservatives secured.

But Meadows said Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., “put forth a few things for our caucus to consider that would actually be beneficial to the military.” He and others had argued the short-term bill undermined the ability of military leaders to plan and fund operations.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had urged her caucus to vote against the bill. Only six Democrats voted for the bill, and 11 Republicans voted against it.

Now, the battle moves to the Senate, where GOP leaders could hold a vote as early as Thursday night. Republicans have a narrow 51-49 majority and the spending bill will need 60 votes to pass.

Senate Democrats broadly oppose the short-term spending bill, called a continuing resolution, because it does not include protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children and also fails to deal with a broad array of other domestic spending priorities.

President Donald Trump complicated matters Thursday with an early morning tweet calling on lawmakers to fund a children’s health insurance program as part of a long-term package, not in the stop-gap funding bill.