Almost each Home Republican on Tuesday night time voted to cross a authorities funding extension by means of September, tossing apart their long-standing opposition to spending payments after having their arms twisted by Pricey Chief Donald Trump.
After passing the invoice, Home Republicans left city—daring the Senate to cross the laws or else be answerable for the federal government shutting down at midnight on Friday when federal funding runs out.
Just one Home Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted towards the invoice—which funds the federal government by means of September whereas making billions in cuts to tasks lawmakers received funded of their districts for all the pieces from meals and housing help, veterans well being care, catastrophe mitigation efforts, and infrastructure tasks.
The funding invoice additionally strips Congress of its energy to cease the harmful tariffs Trump has positioned on China in addition to Canada and Mexico—the USA’ largest buying and selling companions. And it slashes $1 billion from the District of Columbia’s funds, which metropolis officers say will endanger its capacity to pay regulation enforcement and academics.
Republicans voted to cross the funding invoice—often called a Persevering with Decision—although dozens of Home Republicans have voted towards CRs previously as a result of they’re towards the apply of funding the federal government at earlier 12 months ranges with out making vital cuts. For instance, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) declared in September 2023—when the federal government was getting ready to a shutdown—“No more CRs.” However in fact on Tuesday, Crane voted for the CR.
It’s particularly egregious provided that the funding invoice supplies cash for issues that co-President Elon Musk has tried to strip from the funding invoice, together with cash for the just about shuttered U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth, and the Division of Schooling, which simply lower nearly half of its employees and which Trump is demanding be shuttered.
All however one Democrat (Rep. Jared Golden of Maine) voted towards the funding invoice for that very purpose, saying the degrees within the funding invoice don’t even matter as a result of Trump and Musk will ignore what Congress put within the invoice and lower from it what they need. In truth, GOP leaders have been promoting the invoice to Republican lawmakers by making that very level.
“This Congress must decide: do we have the authority to control spending, as we were granted and is laid out in Article I of the Constitution? Why would we want to relinquish this to give this administration, which is already doing massive harm, dismantling agencies, firing people, telling them today they are no longer needed, the chaos and confusion caused by Elon Musk and President Trump—why would we want to turn over our authority to appropriate bills?” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), rating member of the Home Appropriations Committee, wrote in an announcement explaining why she voted towards the funding bil.
Massie, the lone Republican to vote towards the invoice, made an analogous level.
“I’m not voting for the Continuing Resolution budget (cut-copy-paste omnibus) this week. Why would I vote to continue the waste fraud and abuse DOGE has found?” Massie wrote in a put up on X. “We were told the CR in December would get us to March when we would fight. Here we are in March, punting again! WTFO.”
Republicans management the Senate. Nevertheless, as a way to keep away from a filibuster they have to get not less than seven Democrats to vote to advance the funding invoice to the ground for a full vote, assuming each GOP senator can be on board.
And Democrats haven’t but determined what to do.
“There’s a lot of spirited discussion,” Sen. Angus King, an impartial from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, advised The Washington Put up. “There’s really only two options: One is to vote for a pretty bad CR or the other is to vote for a potentially even worse shutdown.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) criticized Democrats and mentioned he can be voting for the funding invoice.
“The weeks of performative ‘resistance’ from those in my party were limited to undignified antics,” Fetterman wrote in a put up on X. “Voting to shut the government down will punish millions or risk a recession. I disagree with many points in the CR, but I will never vote to shut our government down.”
