Funding for more than half of the government was set to expire early Saturday morning, likely leading to a brief partial shutdown over the weekend after Republican senators refused to allow quick passage of a $1.2 trillion spending bill that would House of Representatives had approved earlier on Friday.
A partial government shutdown would cap an extraordinary day on Capitol Hill that began with a major bipartisan vote to fast-track the measure through the House, sparking a conservative revolt and prompting one Republican to threaten an attempt, Speaker Mike Johnson to oust him from his post.
The bipartisan bill faced similar resistance from Republicans in the Senate, where leaders haggled late into the night Friday over Republican demands to hold a series of politically charged votes on proposed changes. As the midnight deadline for funding the government approached, it seemed less likely that the Senate would act in time to avert a funding shortfall.
Lawmakers were expected to resolve their differences in time for a final vote on Sunday, and federal budget officials have signaled that a brief pause in funding over the weekend would not have a major impact. But the delay highlighted the difficulties that have plagued spending negotiations from the start and was a fitting end to a series of agonizing negotiations that are on track to leave the government six months behind schedule.
Earlier Friday, Democrats rallied to provide the support needed to counter a steep surge in a 286-134 vote in the House that came to a head as leaders struggled for the two-thirds majority needed for passage to overcome opposition from conservative Republicans.
Angry over the bipartisan spending deal, the far right bristled, and as the vote continued, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia began calling for a vote to remove Mr. Johnson.
Ms. Greene told reporters on the House steps a minute after the vote that she would not seek an immediate vote on his removal but had initiated the process as a “warning” because his actions constituted a “treason.”
“That was our leverage,” Ms. Greene said of the spending legislation. “This is our chance to secure the border and he didn’t do it. And now this funding bill has been passed without a majority.”
The 1,012-page bill, which combined six spending bills into one package, faced an uphill climb in the House after ultraconservatives outraged the measure. They delivered a series of outraged speeches from the audience accusing Mr. Johnson of negotiating legislation that amounted to, as Ms. Greene put it, a “cruel attack on the American people.”
No other Republicans have publicly said they would support Mr. Johnson’s removal, and Democrats have signaled in recent weeks that they might be inclined to protect him if he faces a threat to his job from Republicans.
However, passage of the bill came at a heavy political cost to the Speaker, who was forced to violate an unwritten but sacrosanct rule of House Republicans that Ms. Greene alluded to, namely against introducing legislation not approved by can be supported by the majority of its members. Only 101 Republicans, less than half, supported it.
This left it up to Democrats to once again provide the majority of votes to pass the bill.
“Once again, it will be House Democrats who will get the legislation needed for the American people to the finish line,” Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York told reporters at the Capitol before the vote.
Republicans pushed to include a number of provisions in the spending package, including funding for 2,000 new Border Patrol agents, additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention beds and a provision cutting aid to the main U.N. agency that provides aid to the Palestinians . Additionally, funding for technology at the southern border will be increased by about 25 percent, while funding for the State Department and foreign aid programs will be cut by about 6 percent.
“House Republicans achieved conservative policy victories, rejected extreme Democratic proposals and implemented significant cuts, while significantly strengthening national defense,” Johnson said in a statement after the vote. “The trial was also an important step in breaking omnibus muscle memory and represents the best possible outcome in a divided government.”
Still, conservatives said the legislation wasn’t conservative enough, citing the $1.2 trillion price tag. They were particularly incensed to see $200 million in new funding requested for the new FBI headquarters in Maryland, as well as earmarks from senators for LGBTQ centers.
“We got rid of all of our poison riders, and Schumer was unwilling to remove their poison earmarks,” said Rep. Robert Aderholt, Republican of Alabama, referring to Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader. Mr. Aderholt, the chairman of the budget subcommittee that oversees labor and health programs, opposed the bill.
Before Friday morning’s vote, Rep. Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, raged that the bill was “full of crap” and called on Mr. Johnson to be more combative in negotiations with Democrats.
“Damn, fight!” said Mr. Biggs. “That’s surrender, that’s surrender.”
Democrats secured a total of $1 billion in new funding for federal child care and education programs, as well as a $120 million increase in funding for cancer research.
“This legislation does not contain everything that either side would have wanted,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. “But I am pleased that many of the extreme cuts and measures proposed by House Republicans have been rejected.”
Minutes later, Mr. Biggs stood on the House floor and ruefully agreed with Ms. DeLauro’s assessment.
“And yet somehow the Republicans are going to vote for it?” he said. “That’s rude. But she’s right: she got the expenses. She killed the riders.”
Robert Jimison contributed reporting.
Source link
2024-03-23 02:30:58
www.nytimes.com