>Kash Patel: Inching closer to shutdown Edition
Government shutdown: House passes short-term spending deal
By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
September 30, 2023 at 2:47 pm EDT
( Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — A last-ditch effort by the House of Representatives to prevent a government shutdown passed on Saturday. The continuing resolution provides a short-term deal to extend funding for 45 days.
The bill, which now goes to the Senate, passed by a 335-91 margin and included overwhelming support by House Democrats. Republicans voted 126-90 to pass the measure, while Democrats approved the bill by a 209-1 margin. Seven members of the House did not vote.
The only Democrat to vote against was Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois, according to CNN.
If the bill passes in the Senate, then funding will be extended through Nov. 17. After Saturday’s vote, the House adjourned until Monday.
The bill omits aid to Ukraine but increased federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, according to The Associated Press. There was also an extension of reauthorization for the Federal Aviation Administration, The Washington Post reported.
If the Senate rejects the House bill and does not have a deal in place to extend funding by 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sunday, the federal government will experience its 22nd shutdown or funding gap since 1976.
H.R. 5860, a 71-page bill, came to the floor under suspension of the rules, which meant that it needed a two-thirds vote in the House to pass. Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., needed support from Democrats to pass the resolution, and they gave it to the embattled speaker.
An attempt by Democrats to adjourn to further study the bill failed by a 427-0 vote early Saturday afternoon. Later, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., spoke in the House and criticized Republicans for “dropping a bill on us at the eleventh hour.”
“I rise today to have a conversation with the American people,” Jeffries said. “So strap in, because this may take a little while.”
Because of the bipartisan deal, McCarthy’s speakership could be in jeopardy, CNN reported. Far-right members of the Republican caucus, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., have said that such a move would trigger a motion to vacate the chair and force a vote to oust the Speaker.
“If I have to risk my job for standing up for the American public, I will do that,” McCarthy said. “If someone wants to remove me, then so be it.”
“I would say it’s on some tenuous ground,” Gaetz told reporters on Saturday, according to CNN.
Hours before the shutdown, the House had announced plans on Saturday to vote on a 45-day short-term spending bill, called a continuing resolution, which would include natural disaster aid that the White House sought, The Washington Post reported. That would keep the government open through Nov. 17.
If the government shuts down, gates at national parks will be locked, rangers will be furloughed
McCarthy met with House Republicans for a private meeting at the Capitol on Saturday morning, the Times reported.
It did not include billions of dollars that President Joe Biden had sought, House Rules Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters.
“Let’s not overcomplicate the matter,” Cole said before the vote. “Let’s keep the government open.”
Government shutdown: There have been 21 shutdowns or funding gaps in US history
McCarthy attempted to break the deadlock on Friday afternoon but was voted down by a 232-210 margin, The New York Times reported. Twenty-one Republicans defected to vote with Democrats to defeat Friday’s measure.
Friday’s proposal sought to keep the government open for 30 days, with up to 29% of cuts to government programs, according to the newspaper. The cuts did not include areas like veterans, homeland security or natural disaster response.
Jeffries in a speech in the House on Saturday, called Friday’s proposal “draconian” and said that Saturday’s measure was similar in its scope.
The proposal did direct the secretary of homeland security to resume “all activities related to the construction of the border wall” at the southern border that were in place under former President Donald Trump, the Times reported.
https://www.wpxi.com/news/trending/government-shutdown-house-passes-short-term-spending-deal/J7UMQIZ2YFGZVMJHJMS7DK34IA/