House passes first funding package to avert a partial government shutdown
House lawmakers easily passed a package to avoid a government shutdown this weekend, sending it to the Senate. But another funding deadline looms on March 22.
WASHINGTON — The House easily passed a package of six spending bills Wednesday, teeing up a vote in the Senate to pass the legislation and avert a partial government shutdown by Friday’s deadline.
The 1,050-page bill would keep parts of the government — including the Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Justice and Transportation departments — open through September. The package, known as a minibus, comprises six appropriations bills that were negotiated between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-controlled Senate and backed by President Joe Biden.
Passing the first tranche of funding bills is the easy part. House and Senate appropriators must next negotiate a deal for the six remaining spending bills ahead of a separate March 22 shutdown deadline. Those bills fund the Defense, State and Homeland Security departments, among other agencies and programs, and are expected to be more highly contested.
The package was passed Wednesday using a fast-track process, known as suspending the rules, that required a higher two-thirds majority to pass. The vote was 339-85.
All 100 senators would need to agree to hold a quick vote on the package to avert a partial shutdown beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
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