Congress avoided a partial government shutdown today by passing a short-term funding bill.
The Senate easily passed the short-term funding bill by an overwhelming vote of 77-18. The House passed it by a 314-108 vote.
Washington D.C. and national news outlets report that the House Freedom Caucus members unsuccessfully lobbied House Speaker Mike Johnson to add a last-minute border amendment to the stopgap funding bill. Johnson rejected the amendment and the members of the caucus pushed Republicans to vote down the bill. The bill will keep approximately 20% of the federal government funded until March 1 and March 8, when Congress will once again have to revisit voting on a spending package. According to several outlets, the CR, which was negotiated between Johnson and Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer of New York, looked much similar to a spending agreement that was reached late last year between Congressional Democratic leaders and ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
15th District Congresswoman Mary Miller, who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, released a statement after the Continuing Resolution’s passage, providing reasons why she voted ‘no’ to the bill:
“I cannot vote to fund a government that allows millions of illegal aliens to invade our country and then uses our tax dollars to resettle them in every state. Joe Biden has no respect for the American people, our immigration laws, or the oath he took to defend our borders. Millions of military-aged men are walking across our border and boarding flights without identification, while American citizens are required to show ID. If Biden refuses to secure our border, Congress should refuse to fund the Biden government. We cannot fund our own invasion!”
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin also released a statement after the Senate overwhelming passed the CR, saying he was a bit disappointed with the current Congress’ approach:
“It’s disappointing that the best we can do is ‘keep the lights on’ when funding the government. We should be addressing issues that are important to the American people, not kicking the can down the road once again. The good news is that the Senate came together today in a good-faith effort to pass a bipartisan CR until March. Now, the House must put their extreme MAGA priorities aside and do what’s best to avert a harmful shutdown that would delay veterans’ programs; nutrition assistance for women, infants, and children; benefits for our military; and so much more. Funding the government is an essential part of this job. It’s not the time to play politics.”
12th District Congressman Mike Bost released the following on X (formerly known as Twitter):
“I just voted NO on the Continuing Resolution to fund government at current levels with no spending cuts or border funding. America is $33 trillion in debt. How many times can we go to a well that’s already run dry without getting the reforms we desperately need?”
The passage of the CR comes as negotiations continue on a separate spending bill that would provide aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as possibly strengthen southern border security.
To further complicate matters, the House is only scheduled to be in session for 11 days between now and the new March 1st funding deadline. The Senate is scheduled for a two-week recess next month.