The House passed funding bills to end the partial government shutdown late Thursday evening, hours after Democrats took control of the chamber. However, the measures will be dead on arrival in the Senate and President Trump has promised to veto them as well.
The House in a 239-192 vote passed a continuing resolution funding the Department of Homeland Security at its current level of $1.3 billion through February 8th, thereby attempting to put off the debate on funding for the border wall. They separately voted 241-190 to fund another six agencies through the end of the fiscal year.
The White House announced earlier that President Trump would veto the measures as they were not providing the $5 billion he is demanding for a border wall and also included language that would have undermined some of his pro-life policies.
The legislation would've permitted taxpayer-funded abortion overseas, repealing Trump's expansion of the Reagan-era Mexico City policy.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) emphasized Thursday that the Senate will not vote on legislation to fund the government unless President Trump will sign it.
He called Thursday’s House votes “political theater, not productive lawmaking.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) agreed, calling it a “show vote.”
“House Democrats are shortchanging border security and prolonging the shutdown in order to score political points against the President,” he said in a statement. “The appropriations bill Democrats passed is wholly inadequate to secure the border. It will not get approval from the Republican Senate or the President, and Democrats know it.”
“I look forward to meeting with Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer at the White House tomorrow,” he added. “They should bring a more serious offer.”
The apparent impasse over border wall funding will be discussed at the White House meeting Friday as the partial government shutdown continues on for a fourteenth day.