Americans will be able to avoid a government shutdown before Christmas. President Biden signed into law a Continuing Resolution spending bill to fund the federal government through March 14. Around 12:30 Saturday morning, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 85-11.
Contentious Bill
The passage of the Continuing Resolution was not without contention. On Thursday, the House initially rejected House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) spending bill in a 174-235 vote. The bill (later revised) was heavily criticized for its content and lack of spending cuts, as well as for a two-year suspension of the national-debt ceiling. The vote highlights how different Republicans plan on managing federal funding. Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of 38 Republicans who voted against the bill, stated in a post on X:
My position is simple – I am not going to raise or suspend the debt ceiling (racking up more debt) without significant & real spending cuts attached to it. I’ve been negotiating to that end. No apologies. CC: @realDonaldTrump @SpeakerJohnson @SenJohnThune @freedomcaucus
Following the vote, Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) suggested voting on each section of the CR individually. Johnson initially agreed with Massie’s proposal, but shifted his strategy after speaking with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to try to secure enough Democratic votes. Massie stated:
This was in fact correct when you tweeted it, but speaker Johnson flipped his decision after the meeting when he spoke to Hakeem Jeffries and realized he could get Democrat votes to pass all the legislation as one bill.
Johnson Criticized
A significant number of Republican members of Congress have criticized Johnson’s speakership, as he has repeatedly relied on Democratic votes to pass spending bills. The reliance on Democratic support has led to speculation among some Republicans that Johnson won’t remain speaker at the start of the 119th Congress in January 2025.
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) spoke with Fox News’ Jesse Watters yesterday. He blamed the CR situation on “The Firm” — the “Law Firm of Schumer, McConnell, Johnson & Jeffries” — and said he doesn’t believe Johnson will remain speaker:
Somebody’s going to have to lose their job over this. I don’t think the speaker is going to remain in power, that’s my prediction. I’m not in the house [but] if I’m correct in that, and I think I am, we need bold new leadership, outside leadership, and I think it needs to be a DOGE speaker. It needs to be either Vivek Ramaswamy, or it needs to be Elon Musk.
More Big Government
Nevertheless, the House passed a new version of the bill — that did not include the debt-limit suspension — Friday evening by a vote of 366-34 and sent it to the Senate in the hopes a vote would take place before midnight to avert a shutdown. Upon receiving the bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reassured Americans that the federal government would not shut down:
Tonight the Senate delivers good news to America: There will be no government shutdown right before Christmas…. This is a good bill, it will keep the government open. And helps Americans affected by hurricanes and natural disasters, helps our farmers and avoids harmful cuts.
The Office of Management and Budget stated early Saturday morning that “there is a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant appropriations and the President will sign the bill on Saturday.” The Senate passed the bill not long after midnight, and Biden, to no one’s surprise, signed the bill, dubbed the “American Relief Act.” According to a White House press release:
H.R. 10545, the “American Relief Act, 2025”, which provides fiscal year 2025 appropriations to Federal agencies through March 14, 2025, for continuing projects and activities of the Federal Government; provides disaster relief appropriations and economic assistance to farmers; extends the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018; and extends several expiring authorities.
Many liberty-minded Americans, of course, see this “bipartisan” cooperation to keep the massive federal government funded for another few months at current spending levels as a continuation of the status quo. From a constitutional standpoint, it would have been better to allow a temporary shutdown if it meant removal of unconstitutional and wasteful federal spending.
Now that President Biden has signed the spending bill, Americans can see this a Christmas gift from Big Government: more of their tax dollars wasted on unconstitutional programs.
