House passes short-term spending bill to avoid government shutdown

The House passed a short-term spending bill Wednesday to avoid a government shutdown just before the November election, pushing a bigger funding fight to the end of the year.

House Speaker Mike Johnson again turned to Democrats to provide the bulk of the votes needed to keep federal funding flowing through Dec. 20, after conservatives in his own conference said they would not support the legislation because it would not cut spending and did not include a measure imposing new proof-of-citizenship requirements when registering voters.

The vote was 341 to 82, with the majority of Republicans voting in favor of the bill. Mr. Johnson had brought the bill to a vote using a special procedure for passage that requires two-thirds support in order to circumvent any attempt by hard-liners to block consideration of the measure.

All Democrats present voted in favor of the legislation.

“Governance by continuing resolutions is not ideal,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “Like most people, I would prefer to see individual appropriations bills for the entire year passed through regular business. We are out of time. We cannot afford a shutdown that would be very damaging to our national security, critical government programs, and the American people.”

The legislation would extend current funding levels through Dec. 20 and include $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service following two failed assassination attempts on former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.

New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said Tuesday night that the Senate would consider and pass the measure just hours after it passed the House. Lawmakers have until midnight Monday to submit the bill to President Biden to avoid a shutdown.