House Passes Government Funding Stopgap, Cutting Some Projects
By Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square
(Worthy News) – The House voted Tuesday evening to advance a Continuing Resolution that, if passed by the Senate, will fund core government services for the rest of the fiscal year and avoid a government shutdown.
The 217-213 vote saw all Republicans vote in favor except Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and all Democrats opposed except Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine. The White House endorsed the CR earlier in the day.
With federal programs set to run out of money on March 14 midnight, the long-term stopgap maintains current budgets for most federal programs until Sept. 30.
The CR does make some funding adjustments, including slashing $13 billion in non-defense spending, boosting defense spending by $6 billion, and adding $500 million to WIC nutrition program spending from fiscal year 2024 funding levels.
It also authorizes billions of dollars for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation efforts, veterans’ health care, and air traffic control safety priorities. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid spending would remain unchanged.
“The choice before us was simple: you either support keeping the government open and working for the American people – or you want a reckless government shutdown,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said after the vote. “House Republicans acted to meet the nation’s fiscal deadline.”
The CR now moves on to the Senate, where at least seven Democratic votes are necessary for the measure to pass.
If the resolution passes the Senate, it will mark the third time Congress punted the deadline to pass the annual 12 comprehensive appropriations bills that provide money for federal agencies to spend on programs each year.
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