House Averts Government Shutdown as Bill Moves to Senate

As the U.S. once again hurtles toward a possible government shutdown, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy turned to Democrats on Saturday and passed a 45-day funding bill through the House.

The proposal required support from two-thirds of lawmakers, a rare vote of unity in the typically dysfunctional and splintered House chamber. The bill ultimately passed 335-91. It will now move to the Senate for approval.

The bill includes aid to help states recover from natural disasters—though it does not include funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Assuming the resolution passes the Senate, and if historical precedent is any indication, threats of a government shutdown are likely to crop up again in the near future.

Prior to the House vote, McCarthy—who has been battling hard-liners within his own party—tried to cast himself as a unifier.

“We’re going to do our job,” he said after a party meeting in the morning. “We’re going to be adults in the room. And we’re going to keep government open.”

Originally, a vote was expected to take place at about 11:45 a.m., though some Democrats were not comfortable immediately voting on the bill without first reviewing it in depth.

“It was just dropped upon us at the 11th hour, and our members are of the view that nothing that Republicans have said this year is trustworthy. Nothing,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

House Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark said Democrats wanted at least 9src minutes to review the bill, saying they would not support it until they could review all 71 pages. “We have serious trust issues,” Clark said in her floor speech.

McCarthy attempted to put responsibility for any potential shutdown on Democrats.

“It will only fail if Democrats vote against it,” he said.

McCarthy vowed to advance the short-term proposal even if it angered his rivals—like embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz—and ended up costing him his job.

“If I have to risk my job for standing up for American public, I will do that,” he said.

President Biden assailed Republicans in a tweet on Saturday morning, writing, “There are those in Congress right now who are sowing so much division, they’re willing to shut down the government tonight. It’s unacceptable.”