House passes $1.1 trillion measure to avoid government shutdown
The Senate vote will be today, but House of Representatives did their part in approving $1.1 trillion in spending to prevent a government shutdown.
The bill passed on a 219-206 vote, following an intense lobbying effort by House Republican leaders and the White House.
photo: TaxRebate.org.uk
Lawmakers late Thursday approved a stopgap measure to keep the government running through midnight Saturday as the Senate considers the main $1.1 trillion spending package. That debate could last through the weekend and potentially into Monday.
“We will not have a government shutdown,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., pledged.
The Obama administration worked with GOP leaders to overcome the defection of 67 Republicans by getting 57 Democrats to vote for it. Many conservatives reportedly opposed the bill because it does not attack Obama’s immigration executive actions, while liberal Democrats were angry over provisions dealing with campaign spending and financial regulation.
The current plan would fund the government through September 2015, but immigration services (Homeland Security) only through late February, setting up a battle over immigration for early 2015.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said earlier that Obama supports the bill and would sign it — despite having reservations about certain provisions.
Now the battle goes to the Senate where Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., now a member of leadership, has fought the bill in an effort to preserve the financial regulatory policy known as Dodd-Frank.
