US House Clears Stopgap Funding Measure to Avert Partial Government Shutdown

The stopgap funding bill needed a two-thirds vote to pass in the House. Typically, the House votes on a "rule" that will pave the way for the bill to pass with a simple majority, but Republicans instead decided to bring the measure to the floor "under the suspension of the rules," which requires the bill be passed with a two-thirds majority.

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives cleared a stopgap measure on Tuesday to avert a partial government shutdown after two-thirds of the lower congressional chamber backed the initiative.

The measure cleared the US House with a 336-95 vote, and will now head to the US Senate. US President Joe Biden would need to sign the measure by Friday night in order to avert the looming shutdown.

Ninety-three Republicans voted against the bill, more than the number of Republicans who opposed the last continuing resolution (CR) passed in August and contributed to the ousting of then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Two Democrats also voted against the bill, Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Mike Quigley (D-IL). Quigley was the only Democrat to vote against the CR in September.

The powerful House Freedom Caucus in the Republican party opposed the bill because it lacked spending cuts and failed to address the border.

"The House Freedom Caucus opposes the proposed 'clean' Continuing Resolution as it contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American People," the group said in a release.

The lack of funding cuts was a feature for the Democratic party, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) saying that the proposal "will avert a shutdown and it will do so without making any terrible hard right cuts that the MAGA right-wing demand."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also signaled his support, suggesting the bill will pass the Senate easily.

The CR differed from previous stopgap bills in that it features a two-tiered scheme, which funds certain programs until January 19, while the Pentagon and other national security programs are funded until February 2.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) describes it as a "laddered CR" and argues it will "stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess."

The staggered funding dates are designed to add urgency to pass a more comprehensive bill which Republicans hope will include funding cuts, funding for Israel and increased border security.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) who voted against the bill, complained it didn't include any of the House Freedom Caucus' priorities. "I can in no way sell that to a single one of my constituents," he said.

The bill does not include US President Joe Biden's funding requests for Ukraine and Israel. When asked if he would veto a stopgap measure without funding those conflicts, Biden was noncommittal, saying he would have to "wait to see what they come up with."

But with the bill receiving large bipartisan support in the House and a similar result possible in the Senate, significant pressure will be on Biden to sign the bill. The government has until Friday to pass a funding bill and avoid a partial government shutdown on Saturday.

After the CR's passage in the House, Schumer said the White House agreed "it'll be a good thing" if they avoid a shutdown. The lawmaker did criticize the laddered funding of the CR, calling it "goofy" but still praised the bill.

Johnson's decision to acquiesce to the demands of Democrats mirrored actions McCarthy took to pass the CR in September. While that move angered members of the House Freedom Caucus, it does not appear they have turned against him completely just yet.

“There’s always that tension, but I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future,” Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), a House Freedom Caucus member, said. “I think most people are willing to give him some time, but we need to see something different.”

One of the contributing factors to McCarthy's ousting, besides his willingness to work with Democrats, was that many members simply did not like him and accused him of lying to them.

"Speaker McCarthy was ousted because there’s an immature man child that happened to be elected to Congress from Florida. That’s why he was ousted. Let’s just be frank," Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) said.

The bill will now head to the Senate. Schumer has already pushed back his funding bill in anticipation of passing the House version.