House to vote on partial funding package as Congress races avoid another shutdown

Washington — The House is set to vote Thursday on bipartisan legislation to fund several federal agencies and programs as lawmakers work to avert the threat of another government shutdown later this month.

The vote, set for Thursday afternoon, comes after House and Senate negotiators released the text of the three-bill package, known as a “minibus,” on Monday. The package includes funding through September for science initiatives and the Departments of Commerce and Justice; energy and water development; and the Department of Interior and the EPA.

Congress has until Jan. 30 to fund major parts of the government, after lawmakers approved a short-term funding measure to end the longest government shutdown in history in November. At the time, lawmakers passed a three-bill package that funded part of the government through September, while extending funding for the remaining nine appropriations bills on a temporary basis.

But the remaining funding effort has not been without hurdles, and the latest funding package will be split in two after a conservative rebellion threatened to stall the legislation.

House conservatives had expressed opposition to earmarks within the funding package. Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, blasted the funding for specific projects in Democrats’ districts, while lauding his work to prevent an “outrageous” earmark for an organization in Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s district.

To appease conservatives, GOP leaders agreed to separate the Commerce, Justice and science portion from the other two bills. The maneuver will allow conservatives to vote against the Commerce, Justice and science portion — which includes provisions they disapprove of — while voting in favor of the other measures.

If both pass, the separate measures are expected to be repackaged together and sent to the Senate.

The path to averting a partial government shutdown
If the minibus passes the House, the Senate is expected to take it up next week, with dwindling time to address the remaining funding bills.

Besides the three bills and the package passed in November, Congress has six other funding measures to assemble and approve before the end of the month. And if all funding isn’t approved before the deadline, lawmakers may be forced to again extend funding on a temporary basis to avoid a partial shutdown of the unfunded agencies.

Both chambers are expected to forge ahead quickly in the coming weeks. House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference Wednesday that the lower chamber plans to take up three more funding bills next week and go from there.

“With just three weeks to go until the funding deadline, we are very hopeful, very bullish, that this package of bills is going to continue our good momentum toward completing annual apportions with regular order without a bloated, wasteful omnibus spending bill,” Johnson said.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top appropriator in the Senate, said that the next package is expected to include funding for the Department of Homeland Security; the State Department and foreign operations; and financial services and general government. The final package, Collins said, would then include funding for the Departments of Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.