Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Reuters Photo
The House on Friday passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September and avert a partial shutdown at the end of the week, setting off a GOP mutiny that threatened Speaker Mike Johnson's grasp on the gavel.
In a 286-134 vote that came down to the wire, Democrats rallied to provide the support to overcome a furious swell of opposition by conservative Republicans.
Infuriated by the painstakingly negotiated bipartisan legislation to keep funding flowing for government agencies including the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, the hard right revolted, and as the vote was still ongoing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia began the process of threatening a snap vote to oust Johnson, according to a person familiar with her plans who requested anonymity to describe her thinking.
Passage of the bill, just hours before Saturday's 12:01 a.m. shutdown deadline, set off a sprint in the Senate to avert a lapse in funding. It remained unclear whether senators would agree to quickly take up the legislation and send it to President Joe Biden's desk before midnight, though Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, was urging them to allow its speedy passage.
The 1,012-page legislation, which lumped six spending bills into one package, faced an uphill climb in the House after ultraconservatives revolted over the measure. They delivered a series of incensed speeches from the floor that accused Johnson of negotiating legislation that amounted to an "atrocious attack on the American people," as Greene put it.
The bill's passage came at a steep political price for Johnson, who was forced to violate an unwritten but sacrosanct rule among House Republicans against bringing up legislation that cannot draw support from a majority of their members. Just 101 Republicans, fewer than half, supported it.
That left it to Democrats to again supply the bulk of the votes to push the bill over the finish line.
"Once again, it's going to be House Democrats that carry necessary legislation for the American people to the finish line," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, told reporters at the Capitol before the vote.
Republicans won the inclusion of a number of provisions in the spending package, including funding for 2,000 new Border Patrol agents, additional detention beds run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a provision cutting off aid to the main U.N. agency that provides assistance to Palestinians. It also increases funding for technology at the southern border by about 25%, while cutting funding for the State Department and foreign aid programs by roughly 6%.
"Against all odds, House Republicans refocused spending on Americans' most crucial needs at home and abroad," said Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, touting "targeted cuts to wasteful programs."
Yet conservatives said the legislation was insufficiently conservative, citing the $1.2 trillion price tag. They were particularly infuriated to see $200 million in fresh funding for the new FBI headquarters in Maryland, as well as earmarked funding requested by senators for LGBTQ+ centers.
"We got rid of all our poison riders, and Schumer wouldn't agree to take away their poisonous earmarks," said Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., the chair of the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing labor and health programs. Aderholt opposed the legislation.
Before the vote Friday morning, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., had fumed that the bill was "chock-full of crap" and urged Johnson to be more combative in negotiations with Democrats.
"Doggone it, fight!" Biggs said. "This is capitulation, this is surrender."
Democrats secured a combined $1 billion in new funding for federal child care and education programs, and a $120 million increase in funding for cancer research.
"This legislation does not have everything either side may have wanted," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. "But I am satisfied that many of the extreme cuts and the policies proposed by House Republicans were rejected."
Standing on the House floor minutes later, Biggs ruefully agreed with DeLauro's assessment.
"And yet somehow Republicans are going to vote for that?" he said. "That's outrageous. She's right, though: She got the spending. She killed the riders."