The House overwhelmingly approved legislation Tuesday to keep the federal government funded through Dec. 11, eliminating the threat of another shutdown before voters head to the polls in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Lawmakers voted 370-48 to pass the spending measure and send it to President Trump, whose signature will ensure federal agencies remain fully operational beyond the election.
The vote came on just the second day that House members were back in Washington following a five-week recess. Republican leaders moved quickly to advance the legislation, formally known as a continuing resolution, ahead of the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.
The House is currently scheduled to leave Washington again on Oct. 1 for the final weeks of campaigning before the midterms. With the government-funding issue now resolved well ahead of that deadline, there has been growing speculation that lawmakers could be permitted to begin their campaign recess even earlier.
The version approved Tuesday incorporated changes made by the Senate while House lawmakers were away. Among the additions is increased funding for several federal programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC.
The legislation also postpones implementation of a rule that would have expanded the White House Office of Management and Budget’s authority over federal spending. Both that provision and the additional program funding had been important demands for Democrats.
Under the federal budget process, Congress is supposed to approve 12 separate appropriations bills each year to finance government operations beginning with the new fiscal year on Oct. 1. Lawmakers, however, have not completed all of those bills on schedule since the 1990s, repeatedly turning instead to temporary continuing resolutions to prevent funding lapses while negotiations continue.
The latest agreement comes after an extraordinarily turbulent period of federal funding battles. Over the past year, the government has been shut down on three separate occasions, totaling 122 days of closures.
{Matzav.com}
