House Passes Six-Month Funding Bill, Senate Fate Uncertain

Republicans Pass Funding Bill, Fate in Senate Uncertain

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed a six-month funding bill on Tuesday, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown at the end of the week. The vote was 217-213, with all but one Republican and one Democrat supporting the legislation.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. Republicans control 53 seats, but Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has already voiced his opposition. This means at least eight Democratic senators would need to support the bill for it to pass the Senate's 60-vote threshold and reach President Trump's desk.

The government is set to run out of money late Friday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who shepherded the bill through the House, celebrated the victory, saying that House Republicans "stood together" with one Democrat to keep the government funded. He called on Senate Democrats to do the responsible thing and support the bill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, however, declined to say whether he would block the bill, indicating a lack of consensus among Democrats on the path forward. He said they would wait and see what the House does first.

The legislation is not a typical stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution or CR, that extends funding at current levels. This spending bill includes a slight increase in military spending and a moderate $13 billion cut in domestic nondefense spending. It was crafted by GOP leaders, who took input from the White House and excluded Democrats from the process. House Democratic leaders strongly objected to the bill.

Ahead of the vote, House Republicans also approved a "rule" that would prohibit a vote in the first session of this Congress to terminate the "national emergency" Trump declared in February to impose tariffs on U.S. imports from Canada, Mexico, and China.

Over the past several days, Trump and his top aides called undecided Republicans, including Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, to urge them to back the funding bill. Vice President JD Vance also huddled with House Republicans at the Capitol to rally support for the bill.

Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida, one of the Republicans who were on the fence, voted for the bill after visiting the White House earlier in the day.

The far-right House Freedom Caucus, which is frequently a thorn in the side of leadership, endorsed the stopgap bill.

Democratic leaders staunchly opposed the six-month funding patch, blasting Republicans for pushing a bill they had no part in shaping. They also objected to how the bill was structured, saying it gave the Trump administration too much discretion in how to spend certain pots of money.

It's unclear what will now happen in the Senate. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said he would vote for the GOP's funding bill, while others said they were watching to see what happens in the House vote before they announce their positions.