House Republicans passed a federal funding bill backed by President Donald Trump largely on their own Tuesday.
It also marked one of the rare occasions in recent memory that a majority of House Democrats voted against a bill that would prevent a government shutdown.
The bill passed largely along partisan lines.
The measure, a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding known as a continuing resolution (CR), will now head to the Senate. It must pass there and get to Trump’s desk before the end of Friday, March 14, to avert a partial shutdown.
In a major victory for Trump and House GOP leaders, however, several House Republicans who professed to never have voted for a CR supported the current bill.
Among them was Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., who fully credited Trump with his decision to ‘barely’ support the bill.
‘The ‘barely’ is Donald Trump,’ Burlison said. ‘He is the difference maker. I would never support this language, but I do trust Donald Trump.’
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., was in a similar boat. He told reporters, ‘I’ll be the first guy to tell you I don’t like CRs. I’ve never voted for one.’
‘But the Democrats aren’t going to help us. And the Democrats are just going to put any shutdown on the president, which obviously isn’t good for for the party,’ Steube said. ‘So I think it’s important that we give the party, the president and the conference time to come up with a good budget.’
It includes an additional $8 billion in defense dollars in an apparent bid to ease national security hawks’ concerns, while non-defense spending that Congress annually appropriates would decrease by about $13 billion.
There’s also an added $6 billion for healthcare for veterans.
The White House has requested additional spending in areas that were not present in the last government funding extension, known as ‘anomalies.’
Among the anomalies are some added funding for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) federal benefits program, and nearly $1 billion to aid with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations.
There is also some added funding for defense in a bid to ease national security hawks’ concerns, and about $13 billion in cuts to non-defense spending.