The U.S. Senate has passed a $1.2 trillion minibus spending package that was passed by the House earlier in the day.
It will now go to President Joe Biden, who’s expected to sign it.
The passage comes as the government had technically gone into a partial shutdown, though a short-lived one lasting only two hours.
The government has gone into a partial shutdown after the Senate failed to give the green light to a House-passed $1.2 trillion spending legislation by the midnight deadline.
The shutdown is on track to be a short-lived one, however.
After an hours-long standoff between Republicans and Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that the impasse had been resolved and voting would begin shortly.
Hopes for a late night vote series to pass the House-passed $1.2 trillion minibus spending package are dwindling as behind-the-scenes partisan squabbling continues.
Meanwhile, the government is just hours away from going into a partial shutdown.
Asked whether there’s still hope for votes moving into the early hours of the morning, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told The Epoch Times, “The hope is still there but the reality? I don’t know.”
As behind-the-scenes wrangling on the spending package continues, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) says progress is being held up by Democrats in tight race swing states.
Asked whether he thought there was “a high chance” there would be a vote tonight, Mr. Marshall, an opponent of the bill, said, “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Further pressed to explain the delays, Mr. Marshall said, “You know, it's in the hands of, you know, Tester and Brown,” referencing Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who are facing uphill reelection campaigns in otherwise scarlet red states.
Rising to state his opposition to the spending package, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said members appeared to have reached an agreement on it.
“I know my time might be short tonight because we’ve finally, I guess, come to an agreement on a vote,” Mr. Bennet said.
The senator went on to say that he could not support the minibus because it did not include funding for Ukraine.
An unlikely source of aid for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)—who is facing a motion from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oust him after bringing the government funding package to a floor vote—might come from House Democrats.
After all House Democrats voted with a gang of eight Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October 2023, several House Democrats are signaling they would save Mr. Johnson from a similar fate.
“It’s absurd he’s being kicked out for doing the right thing, keeping the government open. It has two-thirds support of the Congress, and the idea that he would be kicked out by these jokers is absurd,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) told CNN on March 22.
In an announcement that could reshape the direction of fiscal policy and spending priorities in the United States Congress, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) has formally requested the Republican Steering Committee and Conference to select a new Chair for the House Appropriations Committee.
This decision comes after Ms. Granger’s tenure as the leading Republican on the committee since 2019, a powerful role in Congress where she has played a pivotal role in the allocation of federal spending across various sectors.
Republicans are going to see their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives narrow even further, as Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) is departing Congress soon.
Mr. Gallagher, 40, the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, became the latest Republican to announce an early retirement, saying on March 22 that he will leave the lower chamber on April 19.
Mr. Gallagher did not cite a reason for the decision, which he said came after conversations with his family. A phone call to his Washington office went straight to voicemail.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has filed cloture in the event the process to pass the $1.2 trillion bill to fund the remaining 70 percent of the government is not expedited.
However, were the Senate to go through the normal process that is used to pass legislation, a partial government shutdown would occur, as scheduled on March 23 at midnight, as the normal procedural hurdles take days to clear.
In order for the Senate to speed the process and pass the bill expeditiously, no senator can object.
The House passed a $1.2 trillion bill on March 22, averting a deadline to fully fund 70 percent of the government.
Republicans are railing against the $1.2 trillion spending package to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year after it passed through the House on March 22.
The bill passed 286–134, with 112 Republicans and 23 Democrats against it and another 101 Republicans voting for it.
GOP support for the bill drew ire from Republicans in both the House and Senate within minutes of the House passing the funding package.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is proposing an amendment to the government funding package that would effectively undo the pay agreement among top staffers for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Many of these senate leadership staffers are paid “consultants,” something Mr. Lee wants to stop.
He has called Mr. McConnell and Mr. Schumer “The Firm” and strongly opposes the efforts between the two men to bring forward the Senate’s version of the funding package, as well as a Senate Foreign aid bill.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vouched for the $1.2 trillion bill but focused on what he said is the need to also pass a package that would give assistance to Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific.
“Congress has a say and a responsibility and our work on fiscal year 2004 defense appropriations represents a critical down payment but important requirements will remain unmet even after the needed investments this defense bill will make,” said Mr. McConnell on the Senate floor shortly before the House passed the bill with just over a two-thirds majority needed for passage.
“Republicans recognize the constraints of the budget caps and we worked hard to ensure that the national security supplemental we passed in the Senate would make further critical investments in our own military and defense industrial capability,” he continued.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has formally moved to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from his leadership role in frustration over a $1.2 trillion spending package Congress is working to pass today to avoid a shutdown.
Ms. Greene filed the motion to vacate on Friday, March 22, as members of the House voted to fund the remaining 70 percent of the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year.
The funding package, comprising six appropriations bills, was introduced in the wee hours of March 21—just one day ahead of the deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown. Despite fierce opposition from most of the GOP conference, the measure passed under a suspension of the rules in a 286–134 vote.
The House overwhelmingly passed the $1.2 trillion bill to fund the remaining 70 percent of the government.
The final tally was 286-134 with 112 Republicans and 23 Democrats against it.
The bill is expected to pass the Senate, but whether it will do so before the midnight deadline is uncertain.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on his colleagues to “finish the job of funding the government” ahead of the midnight deadline.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Mr. Schumer called for avoiding “unnecessary delays” as 70 percent of the government will shut down on Saturday if it is not funded.
“Democrats and Republicans have about 13 hours to work together to make sure the government stays open,” he said. “That's not going to be easy.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tn.) criticized the minibus funding package in a March 22 post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Take note of the [Republicans] who vote for this spending bill and get them out of Washington,” he said.
“If we don't take a stand, we will lose this country. You are seeing the beginning of the end for the United States of America.”
After declaring her plans to vote against the funding package on social media the day prior, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) rose to condemn the bill on the House floor on March 22, calling it an “atrocious attack on the American people.”
“I rise in extreme opposition to the second part of the omnibus bill. No Republican in the House of Representatives [in] good conscience can vote for this bill,” she said.
“It is a complete departure of [sic] all of our principles.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told Steve Bannon on March 21 about the possibility of initiating a motion to vacate against House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.).
“I think you can stay tuned,” she told Mr. Bannon.
“Will you lead the charge?” Mr. Bannon asked.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) touted the $1.2 trillion government funding bill as “a strong” bill for border security and the Department of Homeland Security.
He cited the increased number of border security agents and detention beds for illegal aliens under the bill.
DHS would get $61.8 billion, a $1.1 billion increase over the 2023 fiscal year. Customs and Border Protection would receive $400 million toward combating the influx of fentanyl, a major problem as the deadly drug crosses the southern border via cartels and other sources.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) was another vocal supporter of the minibus funding package on March 22 while noting the negotiations between both parties “hasn’t been a perfect process.”
“But we said ‘never let the perfect be the enemy of the good’ when it comes to solving problems on behalf of hardworking American taxpayers.
“And this is a good result for the American people in terms of standing up for their health, their safety, their education, their national security, protection and of course, above all else, their economic well being a bipartisan process, leading to a bipartisan result,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) stood to support the government funding package on the House Floor on March 22, championing it for being led by women.
“I am proud to make history with such experienced appropriators. 2024 marks the first time negotiations on government funding have been led on all four corners by women,” she said.
“This bill sides with the hard working majority of Americans. It helps to lower the cost of living, it protects women's rights and access to reproductive health care that reinforces America's global leadership, and it helps our communities be safe and secure,” Ms. DeLauro added.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, kicked off the debate on the House floor with a warning to his fellow Republicans.
“This bill is over a thousand pages long. It contains hundreds of pages of report language, 1,400 earmarks, and we’ve had about 24 hours to review it. That is not the way to do business. And the American people and American families are the ones left holding the bag,” Mr. Roy said.
“This is business as usual in the swamp. And here’s the deal to my Republican colleagues: You will own every single bit of this. If you vote for this bill, you own it.”
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.) appeared to dismiss a question from a reporter about the possibility of stripping the gavel from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who succeeded former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after Mr. McCarthy was ousted last October.
“It is the speaker's decision to bring this to the floor for a vote,” he said.
“You guys ask us every day about the status of the speaker. But I don't think anybody here talked cavalierly or flippantly about the speaker a year ago,” continued Mr. Good. “We focused on policy. We focused on actions. We focused on performance or lack thereof. And we're doing the same thing today.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to shut down the House over the $1.2 trillion government spending bill.
He explained that Mr. Johnson could do so by removing a ceremonial ornamented staff called a mace. The mace is in place next to the speaker’s chair when the House is in session and it is a 184-year-old custom.
“Take the mace down, cut the lights off, and say we will not come back until you stop the invasion at the border,” said Mr. Norman, calling for the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a tough border security bill that the House passed last year.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) slammed Congressional GOP leadership over the $1.2 trillion government spending bill, calling it a “swamp glossary”—a reference to Washington’s nickname, “the Swamp.”
“Frankly, our Republican leadership or basically walking swamp glossary,” the Freedom Caucus member said.
He cited what he said are excuses from his party’s leadership such as that the GOP majority in the House is thin.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-Va.) railed against the $1.2 trillion government spending bill, saying it is worse than the spending when the Democrats controlled Congress under the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“It does seem this bill again maintains the Pelosi-Schumer policies and spending levels exactly,” said Mr. Good. “It actually increases spending levels by about $60 billion that were in place from the omnibus that we all voted against a year and a half ago, but it has some new things that we want to point out here,” he said at a press conference.
Mr. Good lamented the earmarks and $200 million for the new FBI headquarters in the bill.
Re. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said on March 21 that she would vote no for the newest government funding package, voicing her frustration with the House GOP majority.
“Our Republican majority is a complete failure,” said Mr. Greene in a post on X.
“We have the power of the purse, which means we can control what the entire government does.”
The nonpartisan Job Creators Network (JCN) released a statement calling on Congress to pass the appropriations package.
“Job Creators Network continues to believe that the federal government is too big and unelected bureaucrats have too much power,” said Alfredo Ortiz, JCN president and CEO.
“That said, we commend the House for provisions in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 that, among other things, reduces funding for the IRS and the Department of Labor, claws back $2.6 billion in unused COVID funds, and ensures border patrol officials have the resources they need to protect the country. The Job Creators Network encourages all members of Congress to pass this bill.”
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate in the early hours of March 23 passed a $1.2 trillion omnibus spending package that was approved by the House on Friday.
The Senate cleared the bill in a 74–24 vote. It will now go to President Joe Biden, who’s expected to sign it.
The passage came as the government had technically gone into a partial shutdown, though a short-lived one lasting only two hours.
In the wee hours of March 21, the text of the second appropriations bill—totaling $1.2 trillion—to fund most of the U.S. government was unveiled.
The second tranche of spending legislation covers 70 percent of the federal government. This includes the Defense, Treasury, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and State departments.
If Congress does not pass the bill by March 23, a partial government shutdown will occur.
Conservative Republicans didn’t hold back on March 21 over the $1.2 trillion spending bill that would fund 70 percent of the government—as the clock ticked toward a partial government shutdown on March 23.
The bill, the text of which was unveiled in the early morning hours of March 21—less than 48 hours before a shutdown was set to begin—immediately reignited tensions in the Republican conference and concerns about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) leadership of the lower chamber.
“They did make some cuts, but it’s not what I would like,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told reporters in a gentle voice.
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