House and Senate Pass Another FY18 Continuing Resolution

The House passed an FY18 continuing resolution (CR) funding the government through December 22 by a vote of 235 to 193. Voting against the bill were 18 Republicans (Amash-MI, Biggs-AZ, Brooks-AL, Gaetz-FL, Garrett-VA, Gohmert-TX, Gosar-AZ, Griffith-VA, Harris-MD, Hollingsworth-IN, Jones-NC, Labrador-ID, Massie-KY, Mooney-WV, Perry-PA, Ratcliffe-TX, Wittman-VA, and Zeldin-NY) and 175 Democrats. Fourteen Democrats (Bustos-IL, Crist-FL, Gottheimer-NJ, Murphy-FL, O’Halleran-AZ, Peters-CA, Peterson-MN, Rosen-NV, Ruiz-CA, Schneider-IL, David Scott-VA, Sinema-AZ, Speier-CA, and Walz-MN) voted for the measure. Five members (one Republican – Bridenstine-OK and four Democrats – Brownley-CA, Kennedy-MA, Lawson-FL, and Pocan-WI) did not vote.

The Senate then passed the two-week CR by a vote of 81 to 14. The fourteen members who voted against the measure were: Booker (D-NJ), Cruz (R-TX), Ernst (R-IA), Gillibrand (D-NY), Harris (D-CA), Hirono (D-HI), Lee (R-UT), Markey (D-MA), McCain (R-AZ), Merkley (D-OR), Rounds (R-SD), Sanders (I-VT), Sasse (R-NE), and Warren (D-MA).

The President signed the measure into law today.

Congressional leaders now need to broker a long-term funding agreement to fund the federal government for the rest of FY18. House and Senate leadership met with the President yesterday, but they don’t seem to be any closer on a final spending deal. The deal leadership is discussing reportedly includes $200B in additional spending – $73B for defense, $56B for non-defense, and $70B for emergency spending. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) speculated that a third CR may be needed in order to give the Appropriations Committee enough time to assemble an FY18 omnibus appropriations bill once they have agreement on topline spending levels.

Negotiators are hoping to get a deal on the budget caps before the Dec. 22 deadline. If lawmakers aren’t able to get a deal on the budget, sequestration is set to start in mid-January, which will spark automatic spending cuts. Senate Republicans need the support of Democrats to pass an FY18 omnibus spending measure. Democrats are asking for parity in increases in defense and nondefense spending. They may be willing to support an increase in defense spending if it was matched with an equal increase on the nondefense side. Democrats are also asking for an extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Republicans are also pushing for funding for a southwest border wall.

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