House Republican leaders are considering a floor vote next week on a Senate-passed measure that would fund the government through Dec. 11, but objections over immigration enforcement restrictions, defense funding and other provisions could complicate efforts to send the bill to President Donald Trump.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
House Republican leaders are moving toward a possible vote next week on a temporary government funding bill already approved overwhelmingly by the Senate, setting up a potentially difficult test of whether the conference can overcome internal objections and avoid another shutdown.
Leadership wants to bring the Senate-amended legislation to the House floor, according to people who spoke with Politico, but its passage is not assured.
The Senate approved the stopgap measure 90-6 on Aug. 9.
If enacted, the legislation would preserve existing federal spending levels through Dec. 11, moving the next government funding deadline beyond the November midterm elections.
That timing has been a central argument for acting early.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said lawmakers should prevent federal agencies and workers from facing another lapse in appropriations after two shutdowns already disrupted the current fiscal year.
“We need to ensure that they do not face a third,” Thune said.
The House had previously approved its own version of the funding legislation in July, well before the type of deadline-driven negotiations that often dominate spending fights.
The Senate subsequently amended the House bill, however, meaning the revised measure must return to the House and receive another vote before it can be presented to Trump.
Several provisions added or retained in the Senate version have become sources of concern for Republicans.
One would prevent the Trump administration from implementing a proposal that would give political appointees at the Office of Management and Budget authority to review and approve federal grants.
Another provision would limit transfers of funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol operations.
Those restrictions have drawn some of the strongest objections from Republicans.
Sen. John Rutherford of Florida has characterized the immigration-enforcement funding language as a “dealbreaker,” and House Republicans have raised similar concerns.
The bill also omits several funding priorities sought by the administration and House GOP lawmakers.
It does not include the administration’s request for $1 billion in advance procurement funding for Trump’s proposed “Trump-class” battleships.
Additional military funding related to Iran that House Republicans wanted included in the legislation was also left out.
At the same time, the stopgap bill would continue funding a number of programs that otherwise could be affected by a lapse in federal appropriations.
Those extensions include the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC.
The legislation would also continue housing and food assistance programs, funding associated with the Highway Trust Fund and disaster relief.
The continuing resolution is designed primarily to maintain existing government operations rather than establish a new long-term spending framework.
Its December expiration would leave Congress to confront another funding deadline after the midterm elections.
For House Republican leaders, the immediate challenge is determining whether enough members will accept provisions they opposed in order to prevent a funding lapse.
Because the Senate has already approved the legislation by a wide bipartisan margin, changing it again in the House could delay enactment and potentially require another Senate vote.
Passing the measure unchanged would allow it to move directly to Trump’s desk.
But Republican concerns about restrictions affecting ICE and Border Patrol, the absence of battleship procurement money and the exclusion of additional Iran-related military funding could make that path more difficult.
A House vote next week would therefore serve as an important indication of whether leadership can consolidate enough Republican support behind the Senate compromise or will need Democratic votes to move the legislation forward.
With the federal funding deadline approaching, the dispute is increasingly focused not on whether Congress will rely on another temporary spending extension, but on whether House Republicans are willing to accept the Senate’s conditions to prevent what would be the third government shutdown of the fiscal year.
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