US House passes $1.2tn spending bill hours before shutdown deadline

The House voted on Friday to pass a $1.2tn spending package that would fund much of the federal government through September, with just hours left to avert a partial shutdown. The bill now advances to the Senate, which will have to act quickly to keep the government open.

The House vote was 286 to 134, with 101 Republicans and 185 Democrats supporting the funding bill. Twenty-two Democrats and 112 Republicans opposed the proposal.

The House speaker, the Republican Mike Johnson, introduced the bill under suspension of the rules, meaning that he needed the support of two-thirds of members to pass the proposal. The bill barely crossed that threshold, and Johnson did not win the the support of the majority of his conference as he had hoped, but the speaker voiced optimism after the successful vote.

“House Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense,” Johnson said in a statement. “The process was also an important step in breaking the omnibus muscle memory and represents the best achievable outcome in a divided government.”

On the government funding front, the spending package now advances to the Senate, where members will have to unanimously agree on fast-tracking the bill’s passage to prevent a shutdown. If the Senate can pass the bill, Joe Biden has already said he will “immediately” sign it once it reaches his desk.

The bill would fund about 70% of the federal government – including the defense, state, education and homeland security departments – for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on 30 September. Earlier this month, Biden signed a separate spending bill that funded the rest of the federal government through September, so the bill’s passage would eliminate the threat of a shutdown until October.

Although the bill passed the House, Johnson had to mostly rely on Democratic votes to get it across the finish line. The widespread opposition among House Republicans raised questions about the future of Johnson’s speakership, which began only five months ago.

Just before the funding bill passed, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Republican of Georgia, was seen giving a resolution to the House parliamentarian. Greene later confirmed the resolution was a motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership, but it remains unclear whether she would have the votes to remove him.

Speaking to reporters after the vote, Greene described the resolution as “more of a warning than a pink slip” to Johnson, indicating she would not move immediately to oust the speaker.

“I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and throw the House in chaos,” Greene said. “But this is basically a warning, and it’s time for us to go through the process, take our time and find a new speaker of the House that will stand with Republicans and our Republican majority instead of standing with Democrats.”

A number of hard-right Republicans had indicated before the final vote that they would oppose the bill, arguing the legislation does not go far enough in restricting immigration. Members of the hard-right House Freedom caucus expressed alarm over the bill’s price tag and the timing of its release on early Thursday morning, complaining that lawmakers were unable to sufficiently review the 1,000-page proposal.

House Republican leaders typically give members 72 hours to review bills before a vote, but they ignored that guideline in this case because of the shutdown deadline. At a press conference held on Friday morning, House Freedom caucus members accused leadership of rushing through a massive spending package that is “chock full of crap”, in the words of Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona.

At least one freedom caucus member appeared to raise the idea of removing Johnson over the bill’s passage. The Louisiana congressman assumed the top job after the former speaker, the Republican Kevin McCarthy, was ousted over his decision to work with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown – just as Johnson did on Friday.

“There’s some who will say that the Republicans are in the majority in the House, but it’s clear that the Democrats own the speaker’s gavel,” said Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee. “This bill, if it passes, will likely determine who controls the House of Representatives, and this bill will most certainly determine who the next speaker is.”

If a vote is held on removing Johnson, he will only be able to afford a handful of defections within his conference and still keep the speaker’s gavel, assuming Democrats do not come to his aid. In the event that Johnson is removed, the House will be unable to conduct business until a new speaker is elected, plunging the lower chamber into chaos yet again.