WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a temporary government funding bill Tuesday that would keep federal agencies funded through Dec. 4, moving more than two months before the current deadline. House GOP leaders said the early action is intended to reduce the possibility of a government shutdown shortly before this fall’s critical midterm elections.
The measure passed by a mostly party-line vote of 220-205. House Speaker Mike Johnson urged Democrats to support it, saying that if they opposed the bill, “then they alone are going to own the chaos that ensues if the government shuts down after September 30.” The current measure would generally continue funding agencies at existing spending levels.
Early action and competing priorities
It is highly unusual for Congress to approve a stopgap funding bill months before the end of the fiscal year. Lawmakers normally act only days or hours before a deadline. However, after lawmakers leave town this week, the House is scheduled to meet for only 16 more days before the funding deadline. Republican leaders are preparing to use much of that time on another party-line measure that would spend $95 billion to boost defense, aid farmers and enact portions of President Donald Trump’s elections overhaul bill.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said advancing the measure now could remove the potential disruption of a shutdown. He said a shutdown “probably works to the advantage of Democrats politically,” and blamed the press for such a scenario. Rep. Tom Cole, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said funding the government through Dec. 4 could help prevent a repeat of the past year, which included the longest federal shutdown in history followed by the longest partial shutdown in history. “I’m not willing to risk a third time if we can avoid that,” Cole said.
Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the bill. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans presented the legislation to Democrats on Friday without bipartisan negotiations. She said Democrats would have sought, among other provisions, language reversing a proposed federal rule that could allow agency heads to block or terminate grants they claim do not match the president’s priorities. DeLauro described the process as an effort to push through “a one-sided stopgap measure two days before everyone leaves for the August recess.”
The Senate’s position remains unclear. Spending bills require 60 votes to advance to a final vote, meaning some Democrats would need to support the measure. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins was working with Democrats on the committee to “find a path forward.”