WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday passed a bipartisan package of three spending bills that would fund parts of the federal government through September, demonstrating lawmakers’ eagerness to avoid another government shutdown near the end of the month.
Congress has so far passed only three of the 12 annual spending bills that fund federal agencies for the current fiscal year. If the remainder is not adopted before the January 30 deadline, we risk another shutdown just weeks after the record 43-day shutdown that occurred at the end of last year.
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Leaders from both parties endorsed the latest measure, signaling that passage is also likely in the Senate, allowing Congress to belatedly finish its work on this year’s spending bills. The White House also endorsed the measure, calling it a “fiscally responsible bill.”
The package covers agencies such as the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Departments of Commerce and Justice. It passed by a landslide vote of 397-28, an unusual show of unity on government spending.
Both parties claim victory
The price tag of the bills, which Republicans estimate at about $175 billion, is below current levels, generating savings for taxpayers, Republican lawmakers said. Democrats countered that they were able to negotiate spending levels far higher than the Trump administration had requested and removed many policy elements that they said would have weakened gun safety regulations, expanded oil and gas leasing on federal lands and targeted LGBTQ and racial equity policies.
Importantly, Democrats said, the measure also includes legally binding spending requirements that restrict the White House’s ability to withhold or delay funds for programs Trump opposes. Trump’s first year in office was marked by numerous lawsuits from states, cities and nonprofits that accused the administration of engaging in illegal power grabs.
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“This legislation is a strong rejection of the draconian cuts to public services proposed by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
The Senate would also need to pass the measure before President Donald Trump can sign it into law. But the bill also has bipartisan support in this chamber.
“Republicans are stronger when we stay focused, Democrats are more effective when they negotiate in good faith, and the country is better off when Republicans and Democrats work together,” said Republican Rep. Tom Cole, Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, as he urged his colleagues to vote for the bill.
Financing work was seriously delayed
In recent years, Congress has typically grouped all spending bills into one or two measures, often passed before lawmakers leave Washington for the holidays. Lawmakers say such a process makes it easier to include provisions that couldn’t pass on their own.
Johnson has called for a return to a time when Congress considers all 12 spending bills separately, even though he finds that easier said than done. The fiscal year began October 1, and Congress is still debating full-year funding for most federal agencies.
Democrats listed various priorities for which they were able to maintain or increase funding, despite opposition from the administration. For example, a program to make homes more energy efficient for low-income Americans received a $3 million increase, instead of being eliminated as Trump proposed. The EPA, a frequent Trump target, gets $8.8 billion. That’s more than double what Trump was seeking.
Republicans had expressed concerns about certain provisions of the bill, now called community financing plans. To ease those concerns, a nearly $1.5 million allocation secured by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was removed from the bill. This would have funded a Somali-led organization’s efforts to provide job training and peer support services to people struggling with addiction.
Republicans have focused intensely on allegations of fraud at day care centers run by Somali residents. These allegations are still under investigation. Omar urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a few.
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