With another budget showdown on the horizon, the House of Representatives late Tuesday approved a short-term spending measure to keep the federal government operating into early December.
According to Gateway Pundit, lawmakers voted 220205 to advance a continuing resolution that would extend funding for federal agencies through December 4, narrowly averting an immediate crisis but once again postponing a serious debate over runaway federal spending. The move comes as the House prepares to recess on July 24 and remain out of Washington until August 31, even though current funding authority is set to lapse at midnight on September 30, setting up yet another last-minute scramble in the fall.
The vote exposed sharp partisan divisions and highlighted the deep reluctance of Democrats to support even a clean stopgap bill under a Republican Speaker. Only six Democrats crossed party lines to back the measure, while Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky stood alone as the sole Republican opposed, underscoring ongoing tensions within the GOP over the wisdom of continuing resolutions that simply extend the status quo.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has faced pressure from conservatives to rein in federal spending while avoiding a shutdown, issued a pointed statement after the vote that placed the blame for past and potential disruptions squarely on Democrats. House Republicans today took the responsible step of passing a clean, short-term continuing resolution to fund our government through the November elections, Johnson said, lamenting that sadly, and predictably, 204 House Democrats voted against this measure.
Johnson argued that Democrats have repeatedly weaponized shutdown brinkmanship for political gain, at the expense of ordinary Americans and federal workers. Given that Democrats have already forced the two longest government shutdowns in American history this Congress, its clear they dont care what kind of pain they inflict on the American people or the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who would be forced to work without pay, he declared, adding that if the Senate fails to act, Democrats will own the chaos that follows.
The Speaker also framed the fight as part of a broader pre-election strategy by the left to manufacture crisis rather than govern responsibly. While time remains until the end of the fiscal year, Republicans are under no illusions about the Democrat Partys intentions heading into a consequential midterm election, Johnson warned, asserting that Democrats apparently believe a painful government shutdown would help them politically.
Johnson said Republicans still hope Democrats will reconsider before the clock runs out, but he made clear who he believes will bear responsibility if they do not. We hope they will come to their senses before the government shuts down, but if they dont, then Democrats alone will own the chaos that results, he said, drawing a sharp contrast between the GOPs effort to keep the lights on and the Democrats refusal to cooperate.
Democratic leaders, for their part, openly urged their members to oppose the bill, not on fiscal grounds, but because it did not undercut immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. In a joint statement, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar blasted the measure, complaining that it fails to block funding for Donald Trumps violent mass deportation machine.
The House Republican continuing resolution gives the Trump administration even more power over the federal budget and fails to block funding for Donald Trumps violent mass deportation machine, the trio said, revealing that their priority was constraining border enforcement rather than ensuring stable government operations. Their my-way-or-the-highway approach has consistently failed to address the high cost of living or meet the needs of the American people, they added, even as inflation and economic anxiety have surged under Democrat-backed policies.
Democratic leaders further accused Republicans of trying to escape the hard work of legislating, despite the GOP having advanced the only viable vehicle to prevent a shutdown so far. This continuing resolution is a premature and desperate attempt by Republicans to abdicate their responsibility to govern while there are still several months left to negotiate a bipartisan agreement, they claimed, concluding bluntly, We will be voting No.
Attention now shifts to the Senate, where Republican leadership has signaled it will not simply rubber-stamp the House bill but will instead seek its own version of a stopgap. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he plans to bring a short-term funding measure to the floor before the upper chamber departs for its August 10 to September 11 recess, warning that Republicans could move ahead on a party-line bill if Democrats refuse to compromise.
Per Politico, Thune told reporters that Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine is in talks with Senate Democrats to craft a bipartisan package that would extend funding beyond the November elections. That is something I intend to bring to the floor for a vote before the August break, Thune said, signaling that the Senates approach may become the primary vehicle for any final agreement.
Thune also noted that Senate Republicans are in discussions with the White House over so-called anomalies, or special spending requests the administration wants attached to any temporary funding bill. He suggested that a Senate-crafted stopgap is the more likely vehicle precisely because the House GOP resolution does not include those additional White House priorities, setting up another clash between those seeking basic fiscal stability and those intent on leveraging the process for partisan wish lists.
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