House approves $1.2 trillion package of spending Bills before shutdown deadline

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a $1.2 trillion government funding Bill with more support from Democrats than the majority Republicans, leading to a fresh threat by a hardline conservative lawmaker to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. The House’s 286134 vote sends the measure to the Democraticmajority Senate, which has hours to act ahead of a midnight deadline (0400 GMT Saturday) when parts of the Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department to Treasury and State departments would begin to close.

The move marks a critical step toward ending a morethansixmonth battle over the scope of Washington’s spending for the fiscal year that began October 1. Ratings agencies have warned that the repeated brinkmanship could hurt the creditworthiness of a federal government that currently has more than $34.6 trillion in debt.

The measure passed the House with 185 Democrats and 101 Republican votes, which led hardline conservative Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to introduce a measure to oust Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged his colleagues to move quickly to pass the measure.

A separate controversial money matter is boiling in Congress where its leaders, except for Mr. Johnson, urgently are calling for final passage of a $95 billion security assistance package approved by the Senate for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The House’s vote sends the proposal to the Senate, which has hours to act ahead of a midnight deadline