Senate Overwhelmingly Votes To Continue Government Funding With No Spending Cuts

 The Senate passed a short-term spending bill on Wednesday night that will continue to fund the government at current levels until early 2024. 

The bill, which was first passed in the House with Democrat support, passed in the Senate 87-11. The bill was criticized by some Republicans as it contained no spending cuts and maintained the spending status quo. 

“Keeping the government is a good outcome, of course, but we have a lot more work to do after Thanksgiving,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a speech after the vote. “I know both sides genuinely care about approving aid to Israel and Ukraine and helping innocent civilians in Gaza. So I hope we can come to an agreement even if neither side gets everything they insist on.” 

In the House, the stopgap spending bill passed 336-95, with 209 Democrats and 127 Republicans voting for it. Schumer praised the House for not working with the “hard right” and voting to continue government funding. 

“Obviously, the Republican-led House needed Democratic votes to avoid a shutdown, and I was pleased to see that the speaker was willing to work with Democrats and resisted the siren song of the hard right in the House,” he said. “And if that continues, we can avoid further shutdowns and finish the work of funding the government.”

Ten Senate Republicans and Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet voted against the bill.

The Republicans who voted against it were Sen. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Sen. Mike Braun (IN), Sen. Mike Crapo (ID), Sen. Mike Lee (UT), Sen. Tommy Tuberville (AL), Sen. Rand Paul (KY), Sen. James Risch (ID), Sen. Eric Schmitt (MO), Sen. Rick Scott (FL), and Sen. J.D. Vance (OH). 

An amendment by Paul to cut spending and funding for the IRS was defeated 65-32. The amendment would have reduced “continuing funding by 15 percent, except for the Department of Defense, military construction, and the Department of Veterans Affairs and to rescind $30,000,000,000 from enforcement funds provided to the Internal Revenue Service.”

After passage of the continuing resolution in the House on Tuesday, some Republicans in the House have blocked passage of additional spending bills, saying that conservative voters did not want them to continue to kick spending reform down the road. 

 

In September the U.S. national debt eclipsed $33 trillion, and is expected to exceed $50 trillion by 2033. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that the two-step continuing resolution that funds certain federal agencies through the middle of January while others would get money through early February was necessary. 

“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories. The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess,” he said. “Separating out the CR from the supplemental funding debates places our conference in the best position to fight for fiscal responsibility, oversight over Ukraine aid, and meaningful policy changes at our Southern border.”