Biden Signs Bill to Continue Government Funding Until March

President Joe Biden signed the stopgap funding legislation on Jan. 19 to continue to fund the government until early March, putting off a government shutdown for several more weeks until a full funding measure can be agreed upon by Congress.

Congress approved the legislation one day before a government deadline, sending the measure to President Biden’s desk for his signature. House Democrats joined Republicans to pass the measure on the evening of Jan. 18 in a 314–108 vote. Earlier in the day, the Senate approved the bill in a 77–18 vote.

The legislation extends the deadline for Congress to pass its annual appropriations bills to March 1 and March 8. The move marks Congress’ third stopgap spending bill in four months.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and the White House reached an agreement on the continuing resolution (CR) measure on Jan. 14 and released their plan to be voted on, in an effort to extend government funding that would otherwise partially run out on Jan. 19.

“To avoid a shutdown, it will take bipartisan cooperation in the Senate and the House to quickly pass the CR and send it to the President’s desk before Friday’s funding deadline,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement following the Jan. 14 agreement.

Mr. Johnson also said on Jan. 14 that it “is required to complete what House Republicans are working hard to achieve: an end to governance by omnibus, meaningful policy wins, and better stewardship of American tax dollars.”

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Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (R-N.Y.) said just hours before the vote: “We recognize that a partial government shutdown will hurt everyday Americans. … It’s my full expectation that House Democrats will continue to do the responsible thing.”

Legislation

A $1.59 trillion spending cap for the fiscal year was agreed upon by House and Senate leaders, mirroring the agreement reached last year during debt limit negotiations between then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Biden.

An extra $10 billion in IRS staff layoffs is part of the agreement, which modifies a previous arrangement. It also includes $6.1 billion in COVID-19 funding and an increase in defense spending to $886 billion.

Legislators negotiated a 5.2 percent pay raise for members of the military and $704 billion for other discretionary spending. A side agreement reached would provide roughly $70 billion in further nondefense appropriations.

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) offered vehement disapproval from the House floor, asserting that conservative members of the House didn’t have an appropriate chance to amend the legislation, saying that they were “honoring the McCarthy-Schumer side deals from the Fiscal Responsibility Act,” referencing to the debt limit deal reached last year between then-Speaker McCarthy and the White House.

“And every bipartisan disagreement is solved simply by spending for the progress of the opposing party,” Mr. Crane said, before going on to point out what he asserted were “rich” comments by his Democratic colleagues concerned about the sovereignty of the Ukrainian border while declining to reinforce the southern border of the United States.

“Talk is cheap,” Mr. Crane said. “The American people deserve better.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) also weighed in, saying that voting for the CR would be “continued funding for the CBP One app that is being used to use U.S. parole abusively … We will fund the EV, natural gas, and methane rule destroying access to reliable energy … We will fund the World Health Organization undermining our own sovereignty and cozying up to the CCP.

“We will fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees to the Near East, which supports Hamas, over our ally Israel. … We will be voting to their enemies right now today on the floor of the house. We will vote the pro-China, anti-Israel, United Nations Human Rights Council, [and] we will fund a weaponized Department of Justice and FBI.”

Additional Resistance

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) criticized the move to advance another stopgap spending package.

“I’m here for policy wins,” Mr. McHenry told reports ahead of the vote. “I’m here for gains for the taxpayers and for economic growth. And for us to stick around here and make ourselves extend the pain is what creates suffering. And suffering is an active choice on the part of the majority.”

Conservatives within the House Republican Conference have spoken out against the agreement, pointing out that when discretionary expenditure is taken into account, the actual top-line amount is closer to $1.66 trillion.