House Approves Spending Bill Ahead Of Government Shutdown Deadline
by Sara Dorn · ForbesTopline
The House on Tuesday approved a bill aiming to avert a shutdown ahead of a Friday deadline at midnight—after President Donald Trump lobbied Republicans to pass the resolution and promised to lead a primary challenge against the one GOP House member who voted against the resolution.
Key Facts
House Republicans introduced a bill Saturday that would largely keep current fiscal year 2024 funding levels in place until the end of September—with a $13 billion cut to nondefense spending, $6 billion increase to defense spending—to give lawmakers more time to negotiate a fiscal year 2025 spending plan.
The House passed the bill Tuesday afternoon largely along party lines in a 217-213 vote, with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., the lone Republican voting against and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, the only House Democrat voting for the bill.
Massie on Sunday said he would vote against it, questioning on X why he would “vote to continue the waste fraud and abuse” he said is included in the existing spending plan, while Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., told CNN on Monday night he was against the bill but suggested he was open to changing his position.
Others, including Reps. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa, Cory Mills, R-Fla., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Eli Crane, R-Ariz., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., had said they were undecided before the vote, ABC News reported.
Trump—who urged Republicans to unify behind the bill—attacked Massie on Truth Social on Monday, threatening to “lead the charge against him” in a primary challenge, calling him a “GRANDSTANDER, who’s too much trouble, and not worth the fight.”
Trump acknowledged to reporters Sunday a shutdown “could happen” but “probably won’t,” expressing optimism the bill would pass.
Seven Senate Democrats must vote for the resolution to break the 60-vote filibuster threshold, and at least one, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told Politico last week he would, though at least one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has said he’ll vote against it.
Chief Critic
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations committee, argued the bill—known as a continuing resolution—“creates slush funds for the Trump administration to reshape spending priorities, eliminate longstanding programs, pick winners and losers, and more,” she said in a memo Saturday. Murray alleged it gives the Trump administration leeway to decide how to spend without guidelines from Congress and gives Congress “fewer legal constraints on what it can do.”
Tangent
Some Republicans who typically oppose short-term spending bills, known as “continuing resolutions,” since they don’t include broad spending cuts, expressed support for the proposed package, citing the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency’s ongoing work to identify cuts. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who typically votes against continuing resolutions, told reporters Thursday it would allow DOGE to continue “demonstrating all the waste, fraud and abuse that we can then use to go inform FY 2026,” CBS reported. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., is also among the Republicans who don’t typically vote for continuing resolutions but said they would this time around, citing DOGE efforts.
Key Background
Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown in December when it passed a continuing resolution, with some Democrats’ support, to extend the fiscal year 2024 budget through mid-March. The bill initially failed when it included a provision backed by Trump and Musk to suspend or increase the debt limit until 2027, but Republicans ultimately abandoned the proposal. If the government were to shut down, non-essential employees would be told to stay home from work until a new spending plan is approved, while essential staff, including military and those involved in national security, would work without pay.
Further Reading
Here’s Why A Government Shutdown Appears Increasingly Likely: ‘We’re Running Out Of Time’ (Forbes)
Biden Signs Funding Bill—Averting Government Shutdown (Forbes)