The House passed a stopgap spending bill to extend government funding into early next year, completing the first step to avoid a shutdown just hours before the deadline.
Lawmakers voted 366-34 to advance the package, overcoming the two-thirds majority needed to clear the lower chamber. The legislation, which did not include President-elect Donald Trump’s demand to attach a debt limit increase, will now head to the Democratic-led Senate for consideration.
The Senate must pass and send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk before the midnight deadline on Friday. Otherwise, the government is scheduled to enter a temporary shutdown and federal funding will lapse until the bill is signed.
The latest funding package punts the funding deadline until March 14 and provides an additional $110.4 billion in disaster aid and economic assistance for farmers. It also includes an extension of programs under the annual Farm Bill until the end of September 2025, among other provisions.
The bill is similar to the first continuing resolution package that was rejected on Thursday, but it does not include the debt limit provision that was opposed by GOP deficit hawks and was largely responsible for the first failed vote.
The new measure was fast-tracked to the floor on Friday under suspension of rules, meaning it required a significant number of Democrats to pass the House. Despite threatening for days to withhold support on any spending package other than the original bipartisan agreement, 196 Democrats crossed party lines to help push the bill across the finish line. Thirty-four Republicans voted against the legislation.
It’s not clear if a deal was made between House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to secure the Democratic support needed. However, Jeffries did tell reporters heading into a closed-door meeting Friday evening that he had spoken with Johnson “multiple times” leading up to Friday’s vote.
Jeffries also struck a more amenable tone toward the latest iteration of the CR, saying, “What needed to come out of the bill has come out of the bill.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/3267556/house-passes-stopgap-spending-deal-without-trump-debt-limit-shutdown-deadline/
