On Saturday, the House of Representatives approved a “clean” stopgap funding bill to prevent a government shutdown. The legislation was sent to the Senate for consideration just hours before the midnight funding deadline.
This measure would maintain current government spending levels for a period of 45 days and includes $16 billion in disaster relief, matching the amount requested by the White House in a supplemental proposal. However, it does not include aid for Ukraine or any changes to border policies.
The House overwhelmingly passed the stopgap bill with a bipartisan vote of 335-91, shortly after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) introduced the proposal. Ninety Republicans and one Democrat voted against it.
This move marks a significant change in Speaker McCarthy’s approach to government funding, potentially putting his Speakership at risk as conservative members of the House intensify their threats to remove him from his position.
At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that Senate Republicans would not support the Senate’s bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) and instead deferred to the House plan. The Senate proposal would have funded the government through November 17 and included $5.99 billion in disaster relief and $6.15 billion in Ukraine aid.
McCarthy had