House Passes Major Funding Bill to Try and Avert Government Shutdown

[Photo Credit: By Diliff - Self-published work by Diliff, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=558744]

On Thursday, the House passed a temporary funding bill to prevent a partial government shutdown this weekend. The legislation was sent to the Senate just one day before the funding deadline on Friday.

The bill passed with a vote of 320-99, extending the government funding deadlines to March 8 and March 22.

This extension provides lawmakers with additional time to resolve their disagreements on spending bills and finalize them.

Lawmakers have reportedly reached an agreement on six appropriations bills set for next week, but are still at odds over the remaining six, which cover more contentious legislation funding agencies such as the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.

In the short term, the continuing resolution maintains government operations and provides a minor win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as he works to prevent a shutdown that could be attributed to the House Republicans.

With 113 Republicans in favor and 207 Democrats supporting the bill, it’s worth noting that just over half of the GOP conference voted in favor.

Just two Democrats, Representatives Jake Auchincloss from Massachusetts and Mike Quigley from Illinois, casted dissenting votes.

Thursday’s vote was the fourth temporary bill approved by the chamber this Congress, and the third under the leadership of the Louisiana Republican.

Johnson maneuvered around conservative opposition by bringing the legislation to the floor under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process that demands two-thirds support for passage while bypassing the need to approve a procedural rule, which conservatives probably would have thwarted.

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