The House Voted to Avert a Government Shutdown—For 45 Days

On Saturday afternoon, after weeks of GOP squabbling in the House of Representatives, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) led his chamber in passing a bill to fund the government for 45 days. 

He did it, primarily, with the help of Democrats. The temporary spending bill passed 335–91; 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans voted in favor.

In order to garner enough Democratic support for the bill, which needed two-thirds of the chamber’s backing, McCarthy relented on his pursuit of 30 percent spending cuts across most federal agencies and additional immigration restrictions at the southern border, winning the okay of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). To get enough Republicans on board, the bill did not include continuing aid to help Ukraine fight Russia. The bill, which would fund the government through mid-November, includes $16 billion for federal disaster relief.

Headed into Saturday, a solution was far from promised. Far-right House Republicans have sparred with McCarthy, whom they have threatened to oust as Speaker, and publicly opposed passing a short-term continuing resolution over a longer-term appropriations package. No Congressional action by Sunday would have risked national parks closing, women and infants losing food assistance, and millions of federal employees going unpaid.

For those problems to be avoided, the Senate still needs to pass the continuing resolution before Saturday ends. Democratic senators’ support for additional Ukraine funding may be a source of contention, though the largest impasse to averting a shutdown seems to have been resolved.

The compromise may not be without consequence for McCarthy, whose efforts to pass the bill without the support of his party’s far right may exacerbate their desire to remove him from leadership.

“If somebody wants to remove me because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try,” McCarthy said Saturday morning.

That afternoon, some seemed to consider it. “Every single Democrat in the House, except for one, voted for Kevin McCarthy’s ploy to continue Nancy Pelosi’s budget and Joe Biden’s policies,” said GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, according to the New York Times. “Are we sure Hakeem Jeffries is not the speaker?”