175 Democrats Join House to Keep Government Open Past Midterms
The plan was to finish all the bills before the year ends. That was the plan.
Reality hit hard on Tuesday. The House approved a funding bill that keeps the government running until after the November 3 midterm elections. This move clears the biggest legislative hurdle right now. Over 175 Democrats in the House backed the funding patch to ensure money keeps flowing.
The vote was a landslide. The measure passed 370-48. President Donald Trump will now receive it and is anticipated to sign the measure. This stops a shutdown at the end of September. It buys time until December 11.
Democrats usually fight these bills. They voted against a similar patch in July. But this time, they flipped. The Washington Examiner reports they favored the Senate-passed measure instead of a federal grant provision. They also liked language that blocks money transfers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Republican leadership needed this support. Defeating a filibuster to fund the government demands 60 votes in the Senate. Even though Republicans control the chamber, they need help. House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla. Whether we can achieve that remains another matter entirely.
Cole admitted the timing matters. "We won't know if we'll be doing that till after the election," he said. He warned that the election changes everything. "Everybody's calculations will change. Everybody's point of view will change."
Not everyone in the party is happy. Nineteen Republicans voted against the measure. They had different reasons. Some were upset about a ban on hemp-derived products. Others hated the grants provision.
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) told reporters he would vote against it.
Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) was even angrier. He told reporters that leadership did not want his vote.
He argued that continuing resolutions should not use an expedited procedure. This rule needs a two-thirds majority. It lets leaders pass bills they cannot pass with just their own party.
Congress has not finished this work on time since the 1990s. They often use short-term bills to buy time. Over the past year, the government was shut down for 122 days. That is too much chaos for families.
The House is next scheduled to adjourn on October 1. This is for the final stretch of campaigning. The bill includes a funding boost for programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. It also delayed a rule that would have given the White House more power over funding.
The anger over this vote could hurt the rest of the agenda. A few Republicans threatened to withhold votes for a procedural rule later Tuesday. They are mad about the continuing resolution.
The full-year funding deal is still stalled. The two parties clash over the scope of federal spending. Democrats reject Trump's call for a massive $1.5 trillion military budget. That is a spike from the record-breaking $1 trillion Congress gave the military this year.
The vote is done. The government stays open. But the fight for the full budget is just delayed. Tom Cole knows the election will change the game. He said, "Let's get to the finish line."
The finish line is now after the midterms. Everyone waits to see how the calculations change.