The House passed a bipartisan package of three federal spending bills Thursday by a vote of 397 to 28, funding several government agencies through September and reducing the risk of another shutdown before a Jan. 30 deadline.
Congressional leaders from both parties backed the measure, and the White House described it as a “fiscally responsible bill,” signaling likely passage in the Senate as well.
The vote marks partial progress in a funding process that has run months behind schedule. Congress has completed only three of the 12 annual appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Failure to pass the remaining bills before Jan. 30 would risk another shutdown just weeks after a record-setting 43-day closure that ended late last year.
The package covers the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Departments of Commerce and Justice.
Both parties claim victories
Republicans said the bills’ price tag of roughly $175 billion comes in below current spending levels, generating savings for taxpayers. Democrats countered that they negotiated funding levels far above what the Trump administration had requested and stripped out policy riders they said would have weakened gun safety regulations, expanded oil and gas leasing on federal lands, and targeted LGBTQ and racial equity policies.
Democrats also said the measure includes legally binding spending requirements that restrain the White House’s ability to withhold or delay funds for programs the administration opposes. Trump’s first year in office prompted scores of lawsuits from states, cities, and nonprofits accusing the administration of undertaking unlawful power grabs.
“This legislation is a forceful rejection of draconian cuts to public services proposed by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the committee, urged colleagues to vote for the measure, saying: “Republicans are strongest when we stay focused, Democrats are more effective when they negotiate in good faith, and the country is better off when Republicans and Democrats work together.”
Spending details
The EPA would receive $8.8 billion under the bill, which Democrats said is more than double what the Trump administration sought. A program to improve energy efficiency in homes for low-income Americans received a $3 million boost rather than the elimination the administration had proposed.
To address Republican concerns about earmarks, a nearly $1.5 million allocation obtained by Rep. Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, was removed from the bill. That funding had been directed to a Somali-led organization providing job training and peer support services for people struggling with addiction. Republicans have raised allegations of fraud at day care centers operated by Somali residents; those allegations remain under investigation. Omar urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relative few.
Funding work behind schedule
In recent years, Congress has typically bundled spending bills into one or two packages, often approved before lawmakers leave Washington for the holidays. House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for returning to a process in which Congress takes up the 12 bills separately, though lawmakers have so far completed fewer than a quarter of this year’s bills more than three months into the fiscal year.
The Senate must also pass the measure before President Donald Trump can sign it into law. The bill has bipartisan backing in that chamber as well, according to the Associated Press.