A relieved Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Friday the stopgap funding bill the House passed to avoid a government shutdown will help Republicans bridge the gap until the party takes control of Congress and the White House in January.
Johnson was under intense pressure to get a bipartisan deal done before a midnight Friday deadline, after which many government services would be suspended. The pressure was amplified because two previous attempts at stopgap bills went down in flames.
"We're grateful that everyone stood together and [did] the right thing, and having gotten this done now, as the last order of business for the year, we are set up for a big and important new start in January," Johnson told reporters in a brief statement after the vote. "We encourage swift passage in the Senate now. They need to do their job as the House just did.
"This was a necessary step to bridge the gap to put us into that moment where we can put our fingerprints on the final decisions on spending for 2025."
The Senate is expected to take up the legislation Saturday, which means the government technically will be partially shutdown until the Senate passes the bill and President Joe Biden signs it.
The House passed the bill by a 366-34 vote, with Republicans accounting for all the "no" votes. Johnson said the legislation covers government funding through March, plus disaster relief and aid to farmers, but not a suspension of the federal debt ceiling that President-elect Donald Trump wanted.
"I was in constant contact with President Trump throughout this process," Johnson said. "Spoke with him most recently about 45 minutes ago. He knew exactly what we were doing and why. This is a good outcome for the country. I think he's certainly as happy about this outcome, as well."
Democrats are claiming victory given that the measure wouldn't have passed the Republican-controlled chamber without their help.
"House Democrats have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting working class Americans all across the land," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters after the vote.
Conservative Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who voted against the bill Friday and Thursday, and who objected to the initial legislation unveiled Tuesday, said progress was made Friday but not enough for him to OK the bill. Trump has threatened to back a GOP challenger in the Republican primary when Roy runs for re-election in 2026.
"Notwithstanding significant progress over the last few days, I voted NO on H.R. 10545, the 3rd version of the government funding ‘CR,' " Roy wrote in a post on X. "While it was a marked improvement on the 1,547-page ‘cramnibus' that was released earlier this week, it still included $110 billion in supplemental funding with no offsets or pay-fors, which I cannot support.
"It is notable that our much derided efforts this week as ‘fiscal hawks' resulted in two important things: 1) avoiding $5 trillion being added to our existing $36 trillion national debt with zero spending cuts or structural reforms; but 2) delivering for President Trump a path to stop [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer from abusing the debt ceiling to roil financial markets through a framework for substantial and necessary spending cuts."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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