On Saturday, the House finally passed a bill to keep the federal government temporarily funded and operational, with just hours to spare. The framework still needed to formally get the support of the Senate, but most of the hurdles in the government funding process had been arising in the House, so the biggest problems were solved — but not merely by the Republicans who actually lead the chamber.
“For 2nd time this year, Democrats have saved @SpeakerMcCarthy’s ass and again show competence beats chaos,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said on Saturday. “Today’s Democratic votes — just like lifting debt ceiling — will keep government open. Absolute embarrassment for MAGA. Thanks Speaker Jeffries! We will get the Ukraine funding next. This is a 45-day bill to make sure government is open and troops/cops/air-traffic controllers etc get paid. With the same leverage we used to bear back MAGA, we will keep Ukraine in the fight.”
The House specifically voted on what is called a continuing resolution (CR), which extends past approvals for government funding for a short period. Enough Republicans voted against it that, without what turned out to be almost every House Democrat supporting it (though smaller numbers would’ve sufficed), the measure would’ve failed. Republicans in the House had been clamoring for a government funding solution that would have relied more on their party alone, but despite the extremism and absurdity of some of the spending proposals emerging from that side of the partisan aisle (nearly 30 percent spending cuts? Get real!), they weren’t able to even completely approve a slate of government funding with those mere hours left.
In came the continuing resolution. Whatever the precise calculations from GOP leadership in the House, they gave up on the idea of sticking with members of their own party for a funding vote and went instead with what was characterized as a clean CR, leaving many of their policy ambitions out of the framework. Republicans, for instance, had been running with ideas of jump-starting construction of a southern border wall and restarting the so-called remain in Mexico program, which forced migrants to wait outside the U.S. while seeking asylum. Republicans also suggested short-term solutions in the form of a CR that would have included extreme spending cuts in major areas that could have resulted in disaster if dragged out over the course of a fiscal year.
We will get the Ukraine funding next. This is a 45-day bill to make sure government is open and troops/cops/air-traffic controllers etc get paid. With the same leverage we used to bear back MAGA, we will keep Ukraine in the fight.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) September 30, 2023
