The House of Representatives voted Thursday on a short-term plan to fund the government through Nov. 21, attempting to stave off a government shutdown at the end of September.
The Hill reported that the bill passed 301–123 with bipartisan support.
“Controversial provisions”
There had been some concern that the bill would not be passed by the end of last week after it was pulled from the floor Tuesday because of disagreements over some of the provisions, including whether to include health care funding extensions and aid to farmers dealing with the repercussions of the trade war with China.
Bipartisan deals were worked out on Wednesday, and the text of the bill was released on Wednesday night before being passed Thursday. But the bill postponed working out larger disagreements over spending until later in the fall, which may set the stage for a shutdown just before the holiday season.
Still, Democrats counted the measure as a win. “This legislation avoids controversial policy provisions that have slowed down the appropriations process, and that, if included, would jeopardize passage,” House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) said ahead of the vote.
She noted that the plan does not deal with a request by the Trump administration to allow the border wall to be built outside the Rio Grande Valley. It does, however, fund shared priorities like allowing the Census Bureau to increase its staff and operations in preparation for the 2020 Census.
The final bill also extends funding for a number of differnet health programs including community health centers and Medicaid coverage in U.S. territories, and extends the National Flood Insurance Program and authorizations for the Export-Import Bank.
As a way to gauge the impact of the trade war with China, the bill also includes a provision requiring the Department of Agriculture to provide state-by-state data on the trade war’s impact.
On to the Senate
The Senate must still vote on the spending package before it can be signed by the president. Majority Leader For his part, Mitch McConnell is preparing to bring the plan up for a vote this week.
But the Senate has historically been slow to deal with spending issues, only beginning to pass bills in committee last week after waiting until late July to even begin the appropriations process.
Still, while a stopgap measure is better than a shutdown, it really amounts to not much more than kicking the can down the road. The bigger issues and disagreements will still be there in November, with Congress no closer to an agreement about them.
For now, we’ll just have to take what we can get.
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