House adjourns after passing short-term fix to fund federal government

The House adjourned for the final time before the midterm elections early Thursday after passing a stop-gap funding measure to keep the government running while lawmakers campaign for their jobs.

The bill, known as a continuing resolution, was approved 228-194 shortly after midnight. The Senate passed the measure earlier Wednesday by a vote of 69-30.

{mosads}The vote concluded an abbreviated pre-election legislative session that was dominated by a bill that neither chamber ultimately acted on: a proposal to extend the George W. Bush-era tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.

Democrats came into the session with an ambitious agenda that became more limited as campaign politics and spending concerns took hold. In a busy legislative day on Wednesday, the House passed bills to extend healthcare benefits to first responders at Ground Zero on 9/11 and to confront Chinese currency manipulation. Lawmakers also approved the Intelligence Authorization Act, as well as dozens of non-controversial measures.

But Congress did not get to several pieces of legislation, including a bill pushed by the White House and first lady Michelle Obama to boost funding for child nutrition initiatives.

The unfinished business sets up what one Democratic senator has called the “mother of all lame-duck” session after the elections, in which Congress will have to grapple with the expiring tax cuts, an omnibus appropriations bills and other measures. Both chambers are scheduled to return Nov. 15, about two weeks after the election.

The continuing resolution passed Thursday reduces spending on discretionary programs by $8.2 billion, according to a summary released Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The legislation funds the government at the current year levels and doesn’t include the additional $20 billion in spending requests made by the Obama administration, essentially ensuring its passage. The request included funding for Pell Grants, the cash-strapped Postal Service and the implementation of the healthcare and financial regulation reform bills.

House and Senate Republicans threatened to hold up any bill that added spending for other programs.

The continuing resolution became necessary when lawmakers failed to push through any of the fiscal 2011 spending bills.

The ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Jerry Lewis (Calif.), had pushed for a reduction in spending back to “pre-bailout and pre-stimulus 2008 levels,” saying it would save taxpayers nearly $100 billion. But when the bill finally came to the House floor late Wednesday, the GOP did not put up much fight. Citing the late hour, Lewis dispensed with much of his critique and, quoting Will Rogers, said, “Never miss a chance to shut up.”

The appropriations chairman, Rep. David Obey (D-Wisc.), called the measure a “relatively straightforward and unadorned” continuing resolution, and he said a ‘no’ vote would be “a vote to shut down the government.”

With that, lawmakers voted and hurried off the floor, patting each other on the back with wishes of “good luck” in the coming campaign.