Congress OKS bill that prevents shutdown
WASHINGTON — Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March.
The House approved the measure by a vote of 314-108, with opposition coming mostly from the more conservative members of the Republican conference. Shortly before the vote, the House Freedom Caucus announced that it “strongly opposes” the measure because it would facilitate more spending than its members support.
Nevertheless, about half of Republicans joined with Democrats in passing the third stopgap funding measure in recent months. The action came a few hours after the Senate had voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill by a vote of 7718.
The measure extends current spending levels and buys time for the two chambers to work out their differences over full-year spending bills for the fiscal year that began in October.
The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies. Their funds were set to run out today. It extends the remainder of government operations to March 8.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA., has been under pressure from his right flank to scrap a $1.66 trillion budget price tag he reached this month with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Rep. Chip Roy, R-austin, said the continuing resolution passed Thursday will facilitate that agreement.
“It’s Groundhog Day in the House chamber all the time, every day, yet again spending money we don’t have,” said Roy, whose district includes part of San Antonio.
Johnson has insisted he will stick with the deal, and moderates in the party have stood behind him. They say that changing course now would be going back on his word and would weaken the speaker in future negotiations.
Rep. Rosa Delauro of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Americans expect Congress to govern and work in a bipartisan fashion.
“Some of my colleagues would see that this government would shut down and don’t care how hurtful that would be,” Delauro said.
House Republicans have
fought bitterly over budget levels and policy since taking the majority at the start of 2023. Former Speaker Kevin Mccarthy, R-calif., was ousted by his caucus in October after striking an agreement with Democrats to extend current spending the first time. Johnson also has come under criticism as he has wrestled with how to appease his members and avoid a government shutdown in an election year.
“We just needed a little more time on the calendar to do it, and now that’s where we are,” Johnson said Tuesday about the decision to extend federal funding again. “We’re not going to get everything we want.”
Most House Republicans have so far refrained from saying that Johnson’s job is in danger. But a revolt of even a handful of Republicans could endanger his position in the narrowly divided House.
Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, one of eight Republicans who voted to oust Mccarthy, has been pushing Johnson to reconsider the deal with Schumer.
“If your opponent in negotiation knows that you fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement more than they fear the consequence of not reaching an agreement, you will lose every time,” Good said this week.
Other Republicans acknowledge Johnson is in a tough spot. “The speaker was dealt with the hand he was dealt,” said Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky, noting the constraints imposed by the party’s slim majority.
The short-term measure comes amid negotiations on a separate spending package that would provide wartime dollars to Ukraine and Israel and strengthen security at the U.s.mexico border.
Republican senators have refused to approve any further aid for Ukraine or Israel without U.S. border policy changes. The negotiations have been drawn out for weeks, but both sides say they are nearing a deal, and the Senate could consider the legislation as soon as next week.
One of the last major sticking points: whether to preserve the president’s authority to allow migrants into the United States for special cases during emergencies or global unrest. Republicans deride the authority, known as humanitarian parole, as a Biden administration end run around Congress that allows into the U.S. large numbers of migrants who further tax an already overextended immigration system.
In recent days, negotiators have discussed potential compromises, including capping the number of migrants eligible for parole, according to two people familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Johnson, Schumer and other congressional leaders and committee heads visited the White House on Wednesday to discuss that spending legislation. Johnson used the meeting to push for stronger border security measures, while Biden and Democrats detailed Ukraine’s security needs as it continues to fight Russia.
Biden has requested a $110 billion package for the wartime spending and border security.