House approves bill to fund the government through Sept. 30. Now it goes to the Senate
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- The measure now goes to the Senate, where the GOP will need Democratic help to send the bill to President Trump.
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said he would vote against the bill, prompting Trump to attack him on social media.
WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation Tuesday to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September, providing critical momentum as the measure now moves to the Senate, where bipartisan support will be needed to get it over the finish line.
Republicans needed overwhelming support from their members to pass the funding measure, and they got it in the 217-213 House vote.
In the Senate, they’ll need support from at least eight Democrats to get the bill to President Trump’s desk. It’s one of the biggest legislative tests so far of the Republican president’s second term, prompting Vice President JD Vance to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to rally support.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) moved ahead on the bill, essentially daring Democrats to oppose it and risk a shutdown that would begin Saturday if lawmakers failed to act on the continuing resolution, often referred to by lawmakers as a CR.
“Here’s the bottom line. If congressional Democrats refuse to support this clean CR, they will be responsible for every troop who misses a paycheck, for every flight delay from reduced staffing at TSA, for every negative consequence that comes from shutting down the government,” Johnson said.
The strategy has the backing of Trump, who is calling on Republicans to “remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right.”
Lawmakers said the bill would trim $13 billion in nondefense spending from the levels in the 2024 budget year and increase defense spending by $6 billion, which are rather flat changes for both categories when compared with an overall top line of nearly $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending. The bill does not cover the majority of government spending, including Social Security and Medicare. Funding for those two programs is on autopilot and not regularly reviewed by Congress.
Porter focused on protecting Californians from President Trump’s policies, a theme that is expected to be a throughline in next year’s gubernatorial contest.
Democrats are mostly worried about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. They are already alarmed by the administration’s efforts to make major cuts, as directed by Elon Musk’s advisory team, which he calls DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency. And they say the spending bill would fuel the effort.
Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the legislation, according to a memo released by Senate Democrats. So the administration will have more leeway to reshape priorities.
For example, the Democratic memo said the bill would allow the administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and instead use it on mass deportation initiatives.
“This is not a clean CR. This bill is a blank check,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “It’s a blank check for Elon Musk and President Trump.”
Normally, when it comes to keeping the government fully open for business, Republicans have had to work with Democrats to craft a bipartisan measure that both sides can support. That’s because Republicans almost always lack the votes to pass spending bills on their own.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, which has often opposed past CRs, said he supported this one because it would not lead to a massive, catchall spending bill and would reduce spending.
“This is not your grandfather’s continuing resolution,” Harris said.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is still a holdout, though. He was the only Republican to vote against the budget bill.
Trump went after Massie on social media, calling him a “GRANDSTANDER, who’s too much trouble.”
“HE SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him,” Trump posted online.
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Massie responded by saying Trump was “attacking me and Canada today. The difference is: Canada will eventually cave.”
Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged the continuing resolution was not the outcome he was seeking but said it was time to end the cycle of short-term extensions Congress has been passing to keep the government open. This will be the third for the current budget year.
“Congress does have other things to do,” said Cole, of Oklahoma. “It’s got a lot on its plate this year.”
Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders have come out strongly against it. Less clear is how strongly they’ll push members in competitive battleground districts to follow their lead.
“House Democrats will not be complicit in the Republican efforts to hurt the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said.
Senate Democrats generally seem to be emphasizing patience at this stage, waiting to see if Republicans can muscle the bill through the House before taking a stand.
“We’re going to see what the House does first,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Still, several rank-and-file Democrats criticized the measure. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was stunned that Republicans were “trying to jam through something that is their way or the highway.”
If the bill does move to the Senate later this week, support from at least eight Democratic senators will probably be needed for it to advance to passage.
“It’ll be up to the Democrats whether they want to deliver the votes and keep the government from shutting down,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
Freking writes for the Associated Press. The AP’s Leah Askarinam, Gary Fields and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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