In a move that would keep the government funded through March, the House passed a short-term spending bill on Thursday. The stopgap has now been sent to President Joe Biden’s desk, where it has until 12:01 a.m. on Saturday to be signed for a partial government shutdown to be averted.
The two-step continuing resolution was passed in a 314-108 vote hours after the Senate cleared the bill. The resolution gives lawmakers more time to complete the formal appropriations process as it moves government funding deadlines to March 1 and March 8.
The resolution was passed under suspension of the rules, that requires two-thirds support in the House while allowing for faster consideration.
To see to the passage of the bill, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had to rely on Democratic support as many Republicans were strongly against the proposal which they complained lacked spending cuts and border security policy.
Hence, Johnson faced a push from the right side of the House which attempted to add border security measures to the resolution. The process would have delayed the passage of the bill in the House until Friday. The House would have then had to send it back to the Senate, which would not have brought the bill up for a vote.
Johnson instead chose to advance the CR passed by the Senate and send the House home for the weekend ahead of freezing conditions expected in the capitol on Friday.
The CR has caused a lot of controversy for Johnson, as he promised last year that he would not be advancing any additional CRs. The CR passed in the House Thursday would be the second one Johnson would advance.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was removed last October over a similar issue, as the majority of those who voted for him to vacate his position said that their decision resulted from his advancement of a CR at the end of September.
