Photo: Alamy
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that will reopen the government amid a partial shutdown. The president is expected to sign the legislation.
This comes just days after the Congressional failure to finalize a budget agreement for this year by its January 30 deadline.
As reported by RSBN, last week, the U.S. Senate approved a short-term measure that would allow lawmakers to separately negotiate funding for the Department of Homeland Security and keep the rest of the federal apparatus functional.
The House has now done its part and will send the funding bill to the president’s desk. According to CBS, the final vote was 217-214.
Earlier in the day, the House overcame a key procedural hurdle by securing enough support to move the legislation toward a final vote, drawing Republican opposition from Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie (R).
Rep. Massie opposed the rule to bring the omnibus forward, citing exorbitant spending on X.
“I voted against the rule to bring this omnibus forward for a vote,” he said. “Here is a breakdown of some of the most ridiculous items included in the omnibus, and some America First items that were not.”
Massie noted a reported list of head-scratching items reportedly included in the legislation, according to his analysis:
- $5 billion to provide cash benefits and healthcare to refugees,
- $315 million to fund the National Endowment for Democracy,
- More than $3 billion to be sent to Israel foreign military financing,
- An additional $500 million for Israel for defense purposes,
- Billions for Egypt and Jordan,
- $700 million for foreign aid on HIV-AIDS.
Regardless, the bill will now head to President Trump’s desk to be signed. The president indicated on Monday that he would sign the bill immediately if Republicans could manage to send it to his desk. He also acknowledged the issues with the legislation but impressed upon House leadership that he believed a lengthy shutdown would be far worse than hashing out each item.
“There can be NO CHANGES at this time,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly – One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!”