Congress on Wednesday gave final approval to a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown just ahead of the November elections, sending the legislation to President Biden’s desk but punting a bigger funding fight to the end of the year.
In a pair of votes in quick succession, lawmakers in both chambers overwhelmingly voted to pass the measure to keep federal funding flowing through Dec. 20. The Senate vote was 78 to 18. All the “no” votes were Republicans.
Mr. Biden is expected to sign the legislation before the Sept. 30 deadline.
“It is a relief for the country, that once again, bipartisanship prevailed to stop another shutdown threat,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said. “It took much longer than it should have, but because House Republicans finally — finally — chose to work with us in the end, Congress is getting the job done tonight.”
Less than two hours before, the House approved the bill in a 341 to 82 vote, with a majority of the Republican conference and all Democrats present linking arms to pass the legislation.
Speaker Mike Johnson again turned to Democrats to supply the bulk of the votes after conservatives in his own conference said they would not support the legislation because it would not cut spending and did not include a measure imposing new proof-of-citizenship requirements on voter registration.
He brought the legislation to a vote using a special procedure to pass the bill that requires the support of two-thirds of those voting in an effort to circumvent any attempt by hard-liners to block consideration of the measure.
“Governance by continuing resolution is not ideal,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “Like most, my preference would be to pass full-year individual appropriations bills through regular work. We are out of time. We cannot afford a shutdown, which would be greatly damaging to our national security, to critical government programs and to the American people.”
The legislation extends current funding levels through Dec. 20 and includes $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service in the wake of two failed assassination attempts on former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate.
The pair of votes came after a brief but ultimately anti-climatic skirmish over government funding. Mr. Johnson had previously pushed for a longer-term spending deal that included legislation requiring those registering to vote to show proof of citizenship. Democrats rejected those demands, and some conservatives in the House joined with them last week to sink their own speaker’s proposal.
Representative Chip Roy of Texas, an influential conservative, said he opposed the short-term funding bill because it did not contain the proof of citizenship measure that Mr. Johnson had insisted upon. He predicted that congressional leadership in December would try to saddle lawmakers with spending legislation known as an omnibus bill that lumps together all 12 appropriations measures.
“Now we’re going to have to spend a lot of time — and I will — fighting against whatever massive omnibus bill is tried to jam down our throats on Christmas,” Mr. Roy said, adding: “We shouldn’t be in this place.”
But with the November elections looming, even lawmakers who were opposed to the legislation were eager to quickly cast their votes and leave Washington to return to the campaign trail.
They essentially punted on what is expected to be an even fiercer funding battle just days before the December holidays.
The outcome of the election and which party ends up controlling the White House and Congress will also influence how the House and Senate approach spending issues after the election. Senate Republicans and some of their counterparts in the House have said they would press for increases in military spending, while Democrats have pledged to fight for parity between domestic and military spending.
It is the continuation of a long-running saga that has bedeviled Mr. Johnson.
Since gaining control of the House nearly two years ago, he and his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, have been forced time and time again to rely on Democrats to provide most of the votes on bills to avert shutdowns. A significant number of conservatives in the House G.O.P. conference are fundamentally opposed to legislation that does not mandate deep cuts to federal spending and routinely try to block such measures from even being considered.
Mr. Johnson on Tuesday called the legislation, known as a continuing resolution, “a very narrow, bare-bones C.R. to do only what’s absolutely necessary.”
“It would be political malpractice to shut the government down,” he said. “I think everyone understands that. And so we hope that this will get done quickly, and we get everybody back home to their districts to work into the campaign trail.”
The post Congress Passes Short-Term Spending Bill to Avert a Shutdown appeared first on New York Times.
