Despite negotiations that have been going on for months, Congress once again barely avoided a partial shutdown by passing a stopgap bill to extend spending past the Friday deadline.
Lawmakers passed a short-term bill Thursday to extend the deadline and leave the problem of funding the government in 2024 for another day.
The Senate took the first step and passed the spending bill in a 77-18 vote in the morning. This continuing resolution will allow “military construction, veterans affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department” to keep functioning until March 1. It will also extend the Feb. 2 deadline, which was to fund the rest of the government budget, to March 8, as ABC News reported.
During the day, the House voted 314-108 to approve the short-term measure. Nearly all Democrats and roughly half of the Republicans voted in favor of the bill, which left Utah’s conservative congressional delegation split, too.
Here’s how Utah representatives voted on the CR
Rep. John Curtis, a Republican who represents Utah’s 3rd District, told the Deseret News in a statement before the vote that he is not in favor of the continuing resolution, and would rather work on the topline negotiated by congressional leaders earlier this month.
“Last November, I supported a continuing resolution to give our new Speaker the opportunity to unite the conference around a plan to rein in our out-of-control spending while responsibly keeping the government open,” he said.
“I am disappointed in Congress for not coming together to solve fiscal year 2024 spending, which we are already months into,” Curtis said. “I am voting no on this continuing resolution because we should stay in Washington and get our work done, not pave a path for trillions of dollars in spending that will be crafted behind closed doors.”
Rep. Celeste Maloy, a Republican who represents Utah’s 2nd District, agreed with Curtis, voting against the short-term bill.
“Through a continuing resolution, we are still funding the priorities of the last Congress that was led by Democrats,” she said. “Now that Republicans are in the majority, we need to cut wasteful spending and implement new policy priorities.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Burgess Owens, a Republican who represents Utah’s 4th District, voted in favor of the bill, saying the “narrow stopgap funding” gives Congress an extended timeline to further conservative priorities, like “restoring regular order in the appropriations process, ending Washington’s wasteful spending, and most importantly, securing our southern border,” instead of burdening lawmakers with the aftermath of a shutdown.
“Unless the border is secure by March 1, this will be the last appropriations measure that gets my vote,” he added.
Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican who represents Utah’s 1st District, also voted in favor. In a press release, he cited three reasons for his decision: First, he appreciated the $16 million in spending cuts that House Speaker Mike Johnson managed to negotiate in the fiscal year 2024 budget, “which allows us more time for us to complete our appropriations process, secure more conservative policy wins, and avoid a rushed omnibus disaster.”
“Second, the First District is home to 40,000 federal workers, uniformed personnel, and military dependents who rely on federal paychecks for their work and service,” Moore said “I cannot in good conscience vote to shut down the government for political purposes at the cost of their livelihoods.” Third, the congressman said keeping the U.S. Air Force funded and operating is “crucial” for national security reasons.
“I agree with the frustration surrounding this process, which should have been completed in September. However, political grandstanding and difficult processes continue to get in the way,” he added. “I am 100% confident that going into a government shutdown would only result in a worse deal. Right now, we’re playing in overtime, and we have to continue our work, pass budget cuts, and win the game.”
Will Speaker Mike Johnson give in to House Freedom Caucus’ demands?
Johnson, R-La., had maintained that he would not introduce “any bill that does not solve the problem and secure the border,” as he said Wednesday, after meeting with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders to talk about the budget. Plus, the House speaker said two months ago he would not sign off on any more continuing resolutions.
But now that he’s supported a continuing resolution without border security provisions, this puts him in a tough position with some members of his conference.
“This is what surrender looks like,” the House Freedom Caucus posted on X. The caucus said it was “strongly” opposed to the short-term bill.
The Freedom Caucus wanted to amend the short-term bill to include House Bill 2, or the Secure the Border Act. The bill would restart construction of the border wall, deploy more Border Patrol agents, strengthen laws against human trafficking, and end the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policy while creating a stricter asylum process.
If the stopgap bill had been amended, the House would have had to wait till Friday — the day of the partial shutdown deadline — to vote on it, as Punchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. He noted the House GOP leadership’s lack of interest in such a course of action.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who did not vote in favor of the continuing resolution, had encouraged Republicans to stick to their demands.
“Biden can’t fund the government. Only Congress can. It can attach border-security reforms to anything it passes — including a spending bill,” he posted on X. “Republicans, who control the House, want border security. They could add a border-security bill to this week’s CR,” adding, “I hope they will.”
In another post, he said the House Republican Conference shouldn’t depend on a Democrat-crafted bill.
Earlier this week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he planned to support the short-term bill coming out of the Senate to “keep the appropriations process moving forward and avoid a disruptive partial government shutdown,” in a letter to his party.
Negotiations continue over the 2024 fiscal year budget
Senate and House leadership agreed on a $1.59 trillion topline for fiscal year 2024 in early January. This included $886 billion in defense spending and $704 billion in nondefense, Johnson said in a “Dear Colleagues” letter, obtained by Punchbowl News.
The speaker said the agreement slashes the Senate’s proposed appropriations by $30 billion, noting that the numbers fall in line with the spending caps set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, negotiated by Biden and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., when suspending the debt ceiling limit.
But as CNN reported, both sides of the aisle agreed to a side deal worth $69 billion, bringing the nondefense spending total to $773 billion and the top line to $1.659 trillion.
Johnson said that while the “final spending levels will not satisfy everyone, and they do not cut as much spending as many of us would like,” they will help the government to continue functioning and prioritize “conservative objectives” as well as crucial policies included within the spending bills.
Although the speaker has remained adamant about including stricter border policies in a package that includes sending aid to Israel and Ukraine, the more conservative members of his caucus want him to back out of the deal completely to negotiate bigger spending cuts, as USA Today reported. Congress now has until March to hammer out a deal.