Ten House Republicans bucked party leadership and voted for a short-term funding bill on Friday that will avert a government shutdown.
The stopgap bill, which will fund the government at last fiscal year’s levels until Dec. 16, cleared the lower chamber in a 230-201 vote.
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Garret Graves (La.), Chris Jacobs (N.Y.), John Katko (N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Hal Rogers (Ky.), Fred Upton (Mich.) and Steve Womack (Ark.) joined all voting Democrats in supporting the measure.
Also included in the continuing resolution is more than $12 billion in security and financial assistance for Ukraine, $2 billion for U.S. disaster relief, $2.5 billion for wildfires in New Mexico and $1 billion for home heating assistance. Additionally, it reauthorizes Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fees for five years.
The Senate passed the stopgap bill in a bipartisan 72-25 vote on Thursday. The measure now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. It will avert a government shutdown, which would have been triggered at midnight.
House Republican leadership began whipping against the continuing resolution on Tuesday. In a notice sent to all House GOP offices, Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) urged his colleagues to vote against the stopgap bill because Democrats allegedly refused to negotiate with Republicans on key matters, such as inflation and the border.
“The Majority has refused to negotiate with Ranking Member [Kay] Granger [(R-Texas)] or any other House Republican leader on pressing issues relating to our government funding priorities, including runaway inflation, the supply chain crisis, the border crisis, or the opioid deaths associated with drugs like fentanyl coming across our open southern border, and have instead decided to kick the can to December, setting up another government funding showdown during the unaccountable lame duck period,” the notice from Scalise read.
Top Republicans also took issue with the short-term nature of the funding measure, which will only keep the government running until Dec. 16, “setting up yet another shutdown showdown.” Lawmakers will have to come up with a funding bill by mid-December to keep the government operating for the rest of the fiscal year.
Additionally, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last week said Republicans in the lower chamber should not support the spending bill if it does not “address the border crisis immediately.”
Rogers said in a statement that he voted for the stopgap bill “despite some of its flaws” because of the disaster relief and home energy assistance provisions.
He referenced historic flooding that has inundated Kentucky, his home state.
“Eastern Kentucky needs every federal dollar we can get to help with flood relief efforts,” the congressman said in a statement.
“This bill is far from perfect, but it’s a good addition for disaster relief as we work together to meet the needs that are still prevalent in Eastern Kentucky’s hardest hit communities,” he added.
The Kentucky Republican did, however, gripe that the measure did not address increasing inflation, energy or the flow of immigrants and drugs over the southern border.
“Nonetheless, this bill gives us more time to work toward a resolution and provides important supplemental funding in support of Ukraine, and critical emergency funding for disaster relief,” he said.
Upton outlined the provisions in the continuing resolution in a statement on Friday, pointing to the Ukraine funding, disaster relief and the extension of FDA user fees.
“Particularly with their recent military success the past two weeks, one can only imagine if the rug was pulled out on any Ukraine aid which also restocks US military supplies,” he wrote.
The Hill reached out to the 10 lawmakers for comment on their votes.
A spokesperson for Womack told The Hill that while the congressman “would have liked to see full-year appropriations done on time,” he supported the continuing resolution because it “was a product of previously negotiated terms by Republicans and continues agreed to funding levels.” The spokesperson also noted that the measure did not include partisan riders.