Washington — The House on Wednesday approved a stopgap measure to keep the government funded for three months, sending the legislation to the Senate to stave off a shutdown.
The legislation, which would keep the government funded through Dec. 20, was approved by a vote of 341 in favor and 82 opposed. Ultimately, more Democrats than Republicans backed the bill, propelling it to the two-thirds majority that was required for passage.
The vote comes after Speaker Mike Johnson tried to move forward with a six-month continuing resolution last week that was paired with a noncitizen voting measure, which the House rejected. At the time, a small group of House Republicans joined with most Democrats to oppose the measure.
The government funding fight
With few options remaining, Johnson opted to move forward with the clean, shorter funding extension that had support across the aisle, though conservatives still opposed the strategy. Unable to get the measure out of the House Rules Committee amid conservative opposition, House leaders moved forward with the legislation under suspension of the rules, making the two-thirds majority necessary for passage.
The maneuver has become common in this Congress, with a razor-thin GOP majority — and a group of reliable conservative detractors — that makes partisan legislation difficult to pass. Instead, GOP leaders have often had to rely on Democrats to approve must-pass legislation, to the dismay of some members in their party.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the vote that the dynamic is “the story of the 118th Congress.”
“House Democrats have repeatedly governed in the minority as if we were in the majority in order to meet the needs of the American people,” the New York Democrat said.
Johnson acknowledged ahead of the vote that “it would be political malpractice to shut the government down,” noting that while GOP leadership dislikes continuing resolutions, it represented “the last available play.”
The legislation now heads to the Senate, where leaders secured a time agreement that gives the upper chamber two hours to debate the stopgap measure, fast-tracking its path to passage — and senators’ travel plans.
“Before the day is done, the Senate will pass a temporary extension of government funding, avoiding a painful and unnecessary shutdown next week,” Schumer said Wednesday morning. “Americans can breathe easy, that because both sides have chosen bipartisanship, Congress is getting the job done. We will keep the government open.”
The House and Senate are set to depart for a lengthy recess following the votes, and won’t return until after the Nov. 5 election. And with the three-month funding measure, they’ll face a pre-holiday deadline to prevent a shutdown after their return. House Republicans have fretted about the outcome, which Congress frequently falls back upon. But Johnson said on Tuesday that House leadership opposes an omnibus funding package around the holidays.
“I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition,” Johnson said, suggesting that he would push to approve the 12 full-year spending bills after the election.