On Thursday the House passed by a vote of 320-99 what is now the fourth continuing resolution (CR) for this fiscal year, with there now being new deadlines of March 8 and March 22. Thirteen members did not vote, most of them Republicans. As has been the case with the ones before, this one passed with support from more Democrats than Republicans, despite Republicans narrowly controlling the chamber. Just two Democrats--Reps. Jake Auchincloss (MA) and Mike Quigley (IL)--voted against the bill, while 97 Republicans voted against it. At least this time, however, a majority of Republicans still voted in favor of the bill.
To bypass the conservative opposition, [Speaker Mike] Johnson brought the legislation to the floor under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process that requires two-thirds support for passage but eliminates the need to approve a procedural rule, which conservatives likely would have tanked.
It’s a maneuver that helped lead to the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — who lost the gavel in September after passing a short-term spending bill with help from Democrats.
But Johnson’s job appears safe for the time being. Conservatives were quick to voice their opposition to the spending bill on Thursday, but would not go as far as to vow retribution for the top Republican.
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Under the agreement congressional leaders struck this week, the six appropriations bills that fund military construction, water development, the Food and Drug Administration and the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Energy, Interior, Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban development are due on March 8.
The remaining six measures — funding the financial services, general government, the legislative branch, state and foreign operations and the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor and Health and Human Services — are due on March 22.
Leadership said negotiators have an agreement on the six bills coming down the pike next week, and Johnson on Thursday said the package will be made public this weekend to give members enough time to review the text ahead of a vote next week.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), as has been the case with the previous CRs that have passed without his vote, has been a chief critic. "Here we are again, kicking the can down the road, and for other purposes," Roy said from the House floor on Thursday. "Buying more time so that we can spend more money that we don't have, at a time when we're going to eclipse more interest, more spending on interest than our national defense this year, and by 2026, we're going to be spending $1 trillion on interest, we're going to continue to spend money at the Nancy Pelosi spending level of an omnibus bill that Republicans roundly oppose," he continued as a way to describe the bill.
As he emphasized the connection to the spending levels from Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Roy laid out how the spending bill will "fund all the priorities we oppose" as "we're going to continue to fund the open borders that led to the death of Americans; we're going to continue to fund the United Nations at $12.5 billion that is undermining our freedom, working against us to move people illegally into the United States; we're going to fund UNRWA, which is funding Hamas, an enemy of Israel; we're going to fund the IRS' targeting Americans; we're going to fund the Department of Justice's targeting former President Trump."
"We are going to do that today," Roy declared, "here on the floor of the House of the Representatives, rather than exercising the power of the purse that James Madison articulated in Federalist 58, that this body, this body is supposed to check an out of control executive branch. That is what is happening today, and we should oppose it!"
This spending bill is “going to continue to fund the OPEN BORDERS that have led to the DEATH of Americans!”
— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) February 29, 2024
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Roy also spoke about the tragic deaths of Americans at the hands of illegal immigrants on Thursday from the House floor. He's introduced legislation when it comes to the issues who spoke about above as well, including when it comes to defunding the United Nations.
There doesn't appear to be chatter in this case about filing a motion to vacate the chair to punish Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), as was the case with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) when he passed a "clean" spending bill last just in time to avoid a government shutdown. The Hill's report quoted Roy as saying "I’m not gonna talk about that," with regards to any consequence for Johnson, as he added "consequences are gonna be that people are gonna lose faith in the Republican Party."
The House adjourned for the week not long after that vote on Thursday. There will be no votes on Friday.
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