House passes $1.2 trillion spending package hours before shutdown deadline, sending it to Senate

CBS News ^ | March 22, 2024 | Caitlin Yilek

[Coronal]

Washington — The House passed a massive spending package on Friday to fully fund the government through September, sending it to the Senate ahead of a midnight deadline to avert a partial shutdown.

The House approved the $1.2 trillion package, which was unveiled early Thursday, in a vote of 286 to 134. The package wraps six spending bills into one to fund about three-quarters of the government until the end of the fiscal year. Another package funding the rest of the government cleared Congress two weeks ago.

A majority of Republicans voted against the measure, with House conservatives objecting to the funding levels in the agreement that House Speaker Mike Johnson reached with Democratic leadership in the Senate. The bill includes money for the departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense, Labor and Health and Human Services, as well as funds for foreign operations, financial services and the legislative branch.

Passage in the House moves Congress one step closer to ending a fight over spending that has persisted six months into the fiscal year, one that has forced lawmakers to repeatedly rely on short-term funding extensions to keep the government operating since October.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, waived a self-imposed 72-hour rule that gives lawmakers time to read legislation before a vote in order to get it across the finish line and send it to the Senate, giving the upper chamber just hours before the clock strikes midnight.

Senate rules that allow a single lawmaker to object to expediting a bill's passage could push a vote into Saturday. Republicans are also likely to demand votes on amendments in exchange for speeding up the process, as they did with the last funding bill. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine predicted the upper chamber could hold amendment votes as soon as Friday afternoon.

[Vaduz]

The reprobates still putting IOU’s back in the till cash will be declassified to be recycled for more IOU’s.

[hal ogen]

Did any of these absolute BUMS read this worthless bill? Will they ever do so? CAN they read?

[MinorityRepublican]

The best we can do is gum up the works, and run out the clock until November.

I agree. Honestly, I feel bad for Ukraine. But there's no leadership from the White House. Personally, I think it's up to the Germans to get their economy going and supply everything Ukraine needs. They can afford it.

[SecondAmendment]

</i>>> The best we can do is gum up the works, and run out the clock until November.</i>Hmm, methinks the Republicans are going to cut this off at the pass by having Mike Gallagher step down ... RRRRR !!!!!