The House passed a $460 billion bill to partially fund the remainder of the federal government in fiscal year 2024.
As expected, more Democrats than Republicans voted in favor of the measure, passing it 339-85. The issue of how to fund the government has divided the razor-thin House Republican majority for much of this Congressional term, with Republican hardliners using the conference to push for deep spending cuts and control of the White House and Senate. The Democratic Party is putting pressure on conservative policy riders to change direction. Called a non-starter.
The 1,050-page bipartisan bill is a collection of six bills addressing the departments and agencies of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) whose funding expires on Friday. Department of Justice and Department of Commerce. Energy and water development. Ministry of the Interior. transportation and housing.
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Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday averted a potential government shutdown by passing a $460 billion federal funding bill. (Getty Images)
Funding related to six remaining bills in Congress, including for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, expires on March 22.
Fox News Digital first reported last month that House Republican leaders were planning to renege on previous promises to pass 12 separate spending bills, a move that conservatives pushed back against. Officials who spoke to FOX News Digital at the time blamed Senate inaction on seven separate bills passed by the House, including elements that Democrats had dismissed as “poison pills.” was.
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Faced with the broken promise at his weekly news conference on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson countered that change was happening in Washington in stages, and that he would split the 12 bills into at least two packages to make it all a big deal. He pointed out that the Democratic Party’s tradition of consolidating the bill into large-scale bills has come to an end. An “omnibus” spending bill has been in place since 2018.
“We committed to delivering 12 separate spending bills…The reason it’s so difficult is because Washington has no memory of how to do it,” Johnson said.
Prime Minister Johnson had to negotiate a bipartisan spending deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“It takes a long time to turn an aircraft carrier around, and we are doing it gradually. “We’re trying to get back to the way things were done in terms of government funding.” ”
But Republican hardliners remain unhappy with the bill, arguing that Mr. Johnson has not done enough to push for conservative policy reforms or deep spending cuts.
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The House Freedom Caucus maintained that it was still an “omnibus” spending bill, without elaborating.
“Despite giving Democrats higher spending levels, the omnibus document released so far ignores nearly every Republican policy priority. Worst of all, this omnibus “We are relinquishing Republican influence to bring radical Democrats to the table to truly secure and end intentional borders and a dangerous flood of illegal aliens into the United States.” said.
Democrats, meanwhile, rejoiced that the bill did not include right-wing measures on abortion access, transgender care, critical race theory, and more.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro emphasized that the final deal did not result in a policy victory for conservatives. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, previously said, “We can say that we have successfully defeated most of the extreme cuts and hundreds of harmful policy riders proposed by House Republicans. I’m very proud of that.” Final vote.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to be passed before it reaches President Biden’s desk.
