The US House of Representatives passed a short-term spending bill on Wednesday, allowing the government to operate until December 20th and averting a shutdown. The bill was then sent to the Senate for a vote, where it is also expected to pass and be sent to President Biden for signing.
The bill was passed in the House with 341 votes to 82. As with previous short-term spending bills, the House Republican leadership had to rely on Democrats to get the bill through, due to internal disagreements among Republicans over the content and timing of the bill. The House passed the bill under a suspension of the rule, a procedure that speeds up the submission of the bill and requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass.
Analysts believe that lawmakers are under pressure because the House must pass the bill before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1st. Moreover, many lawmakers are eager to return to their districts to campaign before the November elections, as control of both houses of Congress will be tested at that time.
The bill maintains current funding levels with some exceptions. Most notably, it provides an additional $231 million for the Secret Service to protect presidential candidates. The bill allows the Secret Service to spend money more quickly but stipulates that it must cooperate with a bipartisan House working group investigating two assassination attempts on former President Trump.
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The temporary bill does not include the additional $10 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that was initially proposed by House Speaker Mike Johnson in the Republican appropriations bill. Johnson said he plans to address most of the issues in the spending negotiations during the "lame duck" session (referring to the period between the election and the convening of the new Congress).
After the elections, lawmakers will return to Washington, where they will have to compromise on the remaining appropriations bills for the next fiscal year, at which time they will face a "budget showdown." In the past, lawmakers have typically packaged appropriations bills into one or more large spending bills, called "omnibus appropriations bills" or "minibus appropriations bills."
However, Johnson said there will be no "Christmas omnibus" this year. He also said he "hopes" Congress does not have to pass a "minibus" to fund the government for the long term.
Some lawmakers are skeptical about avoiding such a spending plan. Robert Aderholt, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's Labor-Health-Education Subcommittee, said that given the short time frame between lawmakers returning to Washington after the election and the December 20th funding deadline, he "does not think it is possible."
However, Tom Cole, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said after a closed-door meeting of House Republicans that the December funding agreement, whatever its form, will depend on "who the next president is and their needs" and "the distribution of power in Congress."