House passes nearly $180B funding package after conservative rebellion over Minnesota fraud fears
Rep Ilhan Omar requested more than $1 million for a Minneapolis-based social justice project
By Elizabeth Elkind Fox News
Published January 8, 2026 3:11pm EST
The House of Representatives has passed a federal funding package totaling nearly $180 billion, putting Congress one modest step closer to averting a government shutdown at the end of this month.
The legislation accounts for just over $174 billion aimed at partially or fully funding the departments of departments of Commerce, Justice, Interior, and Energy, including laying out the budget for NASA, the FBI, and federal nuclear energy projects.
It comes after the bills, originally meant to be considered as one massive piece of legislation, ran into opposition from conservative Republicans on Wednesday.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus and others on the GOP's right flank were incensed in particular by the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill, which they felt rank-and-file lawmakers did not get proper input on putting together.
It's one of 12 annual appropriations bills that Congress is tasked with passing each fiscal year. Congressional leaders who negotiated the legislation along bipartisan lines originally included it in a three-bill "minibus" that, when passed in the House and Senate, would mean half of those dozen bills are finished.
Conservatives also threatened to kill the bill during a procedural vote on Wednesday afternoon over the inclusion of a community funding project requested by "Squad" member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
The bill would have given $1,031,000 to Generation Hope's Justice Empowerment Initiative, which "helps justice-involved Minneapolis residents break the cycle through job training and support," according to a description of the funding request.
But conservatives argued that the funding was just another vehicle allowing Minnesota's Somali community to fraudulently take taxpayer funds at a time when the state is grappling with a massive fraud scandal enveloping its public service programs.
"Fraud is running RAMPANT in Minnesota under the failed leadership of Tim Walz. Democrats want to use earmarks to funnel another $1 MILLION to a Somali-led so-called ‘Justice Empowerment Initiative’ that ABUSES taxpayer dollars," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said on X.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-passes-nearly-180b-funding-package-after-conservative-rebellion-over-minnesota-fraud-fears
