In an attempt to avert another government shutdown, the House passed a stopgap spending bill Tuesday afternoon that would fund the government through March 23rd. The bill now heads for the Senate where it faces a rewrite to remove higher defense spending and other changes to budget caps.
The bill, which passed the House in a 245-to-182 vote split amongst party lines, funds domestic programs for the next six weeks, while the Pentagon is given its full-year budget of $659 billion.
The Department of Defense was given an additional $52 billion in funding over 2017 levels, a contentious point for many lawmakers in the Senate.
A broader two-year budget agreement is on the cusp of being negotiated, but with government funding running out on midnight Thursday, passing a stopgap bill will give Democrats and Republicans more time to complete their negotiations. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says now that the bill has passed the House, he's urging Senate Democrats to stop playing games with the military's funding while the nation's security is at stake.
"Today, the House took another critical step to fund out military and provide it with the additional resources it needs to protect our nation," Ryan said in a statement. "Now I urge the Senate Democrats to end their filibuster so we can finally provide funding for our men and women in uniform. No more games. The safety of our service members and the security of our nation are at stake."
The House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the GOP's proposal was little more than an attempt to slash funding for education, infrastructure and other domestic programs.
"Instead of working constructively with Democrats to meet the needs of the American people, Republicans are trying to starve the domestic budget," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday.
In offhand comments to reporters today at the White House, President Trump seemed prepared for a shutdown if it came to that.
“If we have to shut it down because the Democrats don't want safety ... let's shut it down.”
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