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GOP House passes spending bills to fund the feds, but tide begins to turn against Ukraine funding

September 29, 2023 | | Print Article

The GOP-controlled House successfully passed a slew of appropriations bills late Thursday in an effort to stave off a government shutdown.

The bills are designed to fund the State Department, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security through 2024.

“The bill to fund the State Department and foreign operations passed by a 216 to 212 vote. Only two Republicans voted against the measure — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania,” according to Fox Business Network.

“The Homeland Security legislation passed 220 to 208 and includes more than $2 billion for the construction of a wall at the Southern Border amid an influx of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. through Mexico,” as reported by FBN.

Passing the bill to fund the Department of Defense was a bit more complicated. It originally included a provision to provide Ukraine with $300 million, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed the provision from the bill Wednesday. The House then voted for the updated bill 218 to 210 on Thursday.

The bad news is that Ukraine still got its funding, as the House wound up passing a separate bill just to fund the war — with over 100 Republicans voting with Democrats in favor. The only good news is that a majority of GOP reps voted against the measure, according to Rep. Matt Gaetz:

Only one appropriations bill failed to make it through Thursday — the agriculture bill. The reason why it failed is not good.

“House Republicans failed to pass legislation to fund Agriculture, Rural Development and the Food and Drug Administration late Thursday night after more than two dozen moderate Republicans came out against a provision that would limit access to an abortion pill. The chamber voted down the measure in a 191-237 vote, with 27 Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition,” The Hill notes.

To be clear, passage of all four bills would not have averted a shutdown. However, McCarthy had been hoping passage of the bills “would cajole enough Republicans to support a House-crafted continuing resolution that temporarily funds the government and boosts security at the U.S. border with Mexico,” according to the Associated Press.

Over in the Democrat-controlled Senate meanwhile, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer held a vote early Thursday to open debate on his own continuing resolution that would extend funding until Nov. 17th while also sending money to Ukraine and funding some disaster relief.

The problem is a large contingent of House Republicans have already made it clear they wouldn’t support the Senate’s CR, including McCarthy.

“Will I accept and surrender to what the Senate decides? The answer is no, we’re our own body,” he reportedly said in a CNBC interview.

The White House wasn’t pleased by this development.

“The Senate’s bipartisan continuing resolution will keep the government open, make a down payment on disaster relief, and is an important show of support for Ukraine,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement earlier in the week.

“House Republicans should join the Senate in doing their job, stop playing political games with peoples’ lives, and abide by the bipartisan deal two-thirds of them voted for in May,” she added.

One thing is for certain: Time is running out, and everybody, including some Republicans, is growing increasingly desperate.

“[W]ith time running out, many GOP lawmakers were either withholding support for a temporary measure until they had a chance to see it. Others are considering joining Democrats, without McCarthy’s support, to bring forward a bill that would prevent a shutdown,” the AP notes.

McCarthy has reportedly expressed frustration with his caucus.

“Members say they only want to vote for individual bills, but they hold me up all summer and won’t let me bring individual bills up. Then they say they won’t vote for a stopgap measure that keeps government open. So I don’t know, where do you go in that scenario?”  he told reporters earlier in the week.

Vivek Saxena
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