©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A general view of the U.S. Capitol after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris voted on the Senate floor to break the 50-50 tie to proceed with the Inflation Reduction Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. USA, August 6, 2022 REUTERS/K
By Richard Cowan, David Morgan and Makini Brice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly approved a $1.2 trillion budget bill on Saturday, keeping the government funded through the fiscal year that began six months ago and sending it to President Joe Biden to sign it and avoid a partial closure.
The vote on passage was 74-24.
Major federal agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury, which house the Internal Revenue Service, will remain funded through Sept. 30 after the bill passed the Democratic-majority Senate.
But the measure did not include funding for most military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel, which is included in a different bill passed by the Senate and which the Republican-led House of Representatives ignored.
Senate leaders spent hours Friday negotiating a series of amendments to the budget bill that were ultimately rejected. The delay pushed the move past Friday’s midnight deadline.
But the White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement saying agencies would not be ordered to close, expressing confidence that the Senate would pass the bill promptly, which it did.
As Congress got the job done, deep partisan divisions once again emerged, as did bitter disagreement within the House’s narrow and fractious Republican majority. Conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to force a vote to remove Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Republican, for allowing the measure to pass.
The 1,012-page bill provides $886 billion in funding for the Defense Department, including an increase for U.S. troops. Biden, a Democrat, has indicated that he will sign it.
Johnson, as he has done more than 60 times since succeeding his ousted predecessor Kevin McCarthy in October, relied on a parliamentary maneuver Friday to outflank hardliners within his own party, allowing the measure to pass by a vote of 286-134 which had substantially more votes. Democratic versus Republican support.
For most of the past six months, the government has been financed with four short-term stopgaps, a sign of repeated brinkmanship that ratings agencies have warned could damage the creditworthiness of a federal government that has nearly $34.6 trillion in debt.
“This legislation is truly a national security bill: 70% of the funding in this package is for our national defense, including investments that strengthen our military readiness and industrial base, provide pay raises and benefits for our brave military and they support our closest allies,” said Republican Senator Susan Collins, one of the lead negotiators.
Opponents consider the bill too expensive.
“It’s reckless. It leads to inflation. It’s a direct vote to steal your paycheck,” said Sen. Rand Paul, part of a group of Republicans who generally oppose most spending.
The last partial shutdown of the federal government occurred during Donald Trump’s presidency, from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019. The record disruption of government services came as the Republican insisted on money to build a wall along the border of the United States with Mexico and was unable to broker a deal with the Democrats.
GREENE STOPS
The new budget bill passed the House with 185 Democratic and 101 Republican votes, leading Greene, a hardline conservative, to introduce her own measure to oust Johnson.
That move had echoes of October, when a small group of extremists staged a vote that removed McCarthy for relying on Democrats to pass a stopgap measure to avoid another partial government shutdown. They had been angry with McCarthy since June, when he agreed with Biden on the fiscal 2024 spending outlines approved on Friday.
McCarthy’s ouster gridlocked the House for three weeks as Republicans struggled to agree on a new leader, an experience many in the party said they did not want to repeat as the November election approached.
And Greene said she would not push for an immediate vote on her move to force Johnson to retreat.
“I filed a motion to vacate today. But it’s more of a warning than a pink slip,” the Georgia Republican told reporters.
Indeed, some Democrats said Friday they would vote to keep Johnson if he were to call a vote on a $95 billion security assistance package already approved by the Senate for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
That measure is unlikely to be adopted anytime soon, as lawmakers will now leave Washington for a two-week recess.
Pockets of Republican opposition to more funding for Ukraine have raised fears that Russia could seriously erode Kiev’s ability to continue to defend itself.
Life is unlikely to get easier for Johnson any time soon, with the impending departure of two members of his caucus – Ken Buck and Mike Gallagher – set to reduce his majority to just 217-213 within a month. At that point, Johnson could afford to lose a single vote from his party on any measure that Democrats unite to oppose.