Government shutdown averted as House adopts Senate bill

The House of Representatives has just approved the stopgap funding bill that the Senate passed earlier today to keep the government open through December 3. The House adopted the motion to avert the government shutdown, with 254 representatives voting yea and 175 voting nay.

Representatives voting nay were all Republicans, but 34 GOP representatives voted yea, with 3 not voting. No Democrat voted nay or abstained from voting.

Earlier today in the Senate, the legislation passed 65-35. Fifteen Senate Republicans joined all Senate Democrats in favor of the bill.

The Congress-approved bill to avert the government shutdown is now headed to President Biden for his signature.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer released a statement, saying, “Earlier today, the Senate passed a clean bill to keep the government open through December 3, and the House has now done the same, over the objections of many House Republicans who voted to shut down the government and reject emergency assistance for our Afghan allies and for Americans impacted by Hurricane Ida and wildfires.”

Hoyer added that he hopes Congress can agree on appropriations for the full FY2022.

“While the immediate threat of a shutdown has ended, the appropriations process must continue toward its successful conclusion over the next nine weeks,” he said. “I thank Chairwoman DeLauro and Members of the Appropriations Committee for their hard work in that direction, and I hope that the House and Senate can agree on full-year appropriations for Fiscal Year 2022 before the December 3 deadline.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement before the Senate vote on the bill, saying the legislation has several crucial items that GOP lawmakers demanded.

“That includes supplemental funds to help resettle vetted Afghan refugees and hurricane recovery aid for Louisiana,” said McConnell.

His statement later reads: “The Democratic majority has begun to realize that the way forward on basic governing duties matches the road map that Republicans have been laying out for months. On government funding, what Republicans laid out all along was a clean, continuing resolution without the poison pill of a debt limit increase. That’s exactly what will pass today.”

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