House passes continuing resolution as Congress works to fund government

Ray Bogan

The House overwhelmingly approved a continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government through December 20. 

The extraordinary bipartisanship was both political and necessary, neither party’s leadership wanted a shutdown a month before the election, and because it was considered under suspension of the normal rules it needed a two-thirds majority to pass, not a simple majority. 

This bill will fund the government at its current levels and provide an extra $231 million to the Secret Service for protecting presidential candidates.

Democrats took credit for the plan. 

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.: “House Democrats have now avoided a reckless Republican government shutdown on five different occasions to make sure that we meet the needs of the American people and keep the government open.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson put the blame on Senate Democrats. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA: “This is Chuck Schumer’s fault. We did our work, we passed 12 appropriations bills through the committee process in record time, we put them on the floor, almost 73% of federal funding has been passed through the House. We sent it all over to the Senate and they’ve done nothing. “

Republicans originally wanted a continuing resolution that funded the government through March of next year and included a measure requiring Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. That failed, so they had no choice but to put the clean CR on the floor. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA: “We loathe CRs as much as anyone but this is the situation that Senate Democrat leadership put us in. It would be political malpractice to shut the government down.”

But if Johnson lost this round, he’s putting his foot down for the December 20 deadline. 

Johnson: “We have broken the Christmas omni. And I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition. There won’t be a Christmas omnibus. “

An omnibus is a massive bill that funds the entirety of the federal government. 

They’re thousands of pages, for instance this one in 2022 was more than 4,000. They are used when Congress can’t fund the government the way it’s supposed to. 

Congress is supposed to pass 12 appropriations bills per year, each of which fund a specific function within the government. 

Ray: “Could you explain why is an omnibus bad?”

Rep. Mark Molinaro, R-N.Y.: “The average American wants us to be be clear that we’re not creating these massive bills that have so many disparate parts, right Christmas trees, right with ornaments attached to them, that instead of being able to consider a single focus appropriation bill, we’re forced into voting for this big, massive thing that has plenty of ugly parts that folks don’t want us to have to endorse.”

Now the House CR is off to the Senate. The chamber will have to approve it exactly as it is because the House is leaving DC for the entire month of October, and if the Senate makes any changes, that would require the House to re-approve it. 

I’m Ray Bogan on Capitol Hill, for more unbiased reporting from our nation’s capitol download the straight arrow news app and turn on notifications.