Congressional leaders on Tuesday evening finally released a short-term government funding bill to avert a shutdown at the end of this week. The measure will fund the government through March 14, 2025, at current spending levels. The measure also includes $100.4 billion for disaster relief and an additional $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers.
Republican leadership could hold a vote as soon as Wednesday but it’s more likely to occur on Thursday.
Among provisions in short-term spending bill:
- Reauthorization the Department of Homeland Security’s unmanned aircraft systems program, which would allow for coordination among all Homeland Security agencies to address and counter the potential threats from drones.
- A one-year extension of the Farm Bill.
- It extends several expiring health care programs, including telehealth programs.
- It grants Washington, D.C., control of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, paving the way for the NFL’s Commanders to move from Maryland to D.C.
- A provision for the government to cover 100% of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed when a container ship ran into it.
- Restrictions on U.S. investment in China.
Republicans had initially promised to release bill text over the weekend with the aim of holding a vote early in the week, but outspoken criticism from within their ranks continually delayed negotiators from finalizing the legislation. While Speaker Mike Johnson expressed a preference to abide by waiting 72 hours after the bill text was posted to hold a vote, lawmakers are eager to get out of town for the holiday break, so it’s very likely he might not honor that rule.
Earlier Tuesdauy, several House Republicans stormed out of a morning conference meeting furious over Johnson’s handling of the bill.
Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison called the speaker’s funding plan presented at the conference meeting a “total dumpster fire.”
“I think it’s garbage,” Burlison said, adding that he has conveyed his frustrations to Johnson, who is seeking to retain the speaker’s gavel in the new year.
“I’m disappointed,” Burlison said when asked about Johnson’s future. “I think that he can do better. He can communicate better. The fact that we haven’t seen the language today and we’re supposed to vote on it this week is unacceptable.”
South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said he is frustrated with the funding plan as well.
“I’m not voting for the CR [continuing resolution],” he said.
Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, a frequent critic of the leadership’s spending bills, said, “This is not the way to do business right.”
“We’re just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. If you can’t shrink the government, you can’t live free,” Roy said.
The Texas congressman did not respond when asked if he’ll support the speaker in January.
Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick said as he left the meeting, “I’m frustrated with the whole approach to this, because I think, once again, we’re just adding to the deficit without having any clear plan forward,”
After relying on Democrats for bipartisan support to pass the past five continuing resolutions, Johnson brushed off the criticism bubbling up within his ranks, stressing that the bill has not been released.
“I got a couple of friends who will just say that about any end of year funding measure,” Johnson said. “This is not an omnibus, OK? This is a small CR that we’ve had to add things to that were out of our control. These are not manmade disasters. These are things that the federal government has an appropriate role to do.”
Despite the growing tensions, Johnson expressed optimism that his speakership will overcome the challenges to buy the conference time until Republicans have unified control over Washington next year.
“I’m not worried about the speaker’s vote. We’re governing. Everybody knows we have difficult circumstances. We’re doing the very best we can under those circumstances,” Johnson said. “These are the hard choices that lawmakers have to make, but we will get the job done, as we always do. We will. We will keep moving forward, and in January, we have a new lease on all this.”
With government funding set to lapse at the end of the week, Johnson was steadfast that the House must abide by a 72-hour rule, where the clock starts to tee up a vote once bill text is released.
“I believe in the 72-hour roll rule,” Johnson said. “We’re committed to all of that. We’re going to take care of these obligations and get this done, and then we’re going to go to work in unified government in the 119th Congress. It begins in January.”
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