House approves spending bill to avoid government shutdown

Dec 20, 2024

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Lauren Taylor Anchor

By Lauren Taylor (Anchor), Roey Hadar (Producer), Harry Fogle (Video Editor)

Democrats and Republicans in the House voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill to keep the government open until Friday, March 14. The bill passed just hours before the government was set to shut down.

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Notably, the bill –– known as a continuing resolution –– did not maintain the debt ceiling suspension, something President-elect Donald Trump advocated for. However, it did include language from the annual Farm Bill as well as disaster relief aid.

Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., delivered a holiday-themed pitch on the House floor before the vote.

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“‘Twas five days before Christmas and all through this House, not a lawmaker was resting, not even their spouse. The [continuing resolution] stalled, the debates full of heat, while a shutdown shadow loomed over our streets. My friends, it’s time to fund our defense and aid for our farms and disaster relief to protect our very own citizens from harm,” Alford said.

The House has revised the bill multiple times over the last few days. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not move the first version forward after it received extensive public criticism on Wednesday, Dec. 18, from Elon Musk and the president-elect.

A second version, released Thursday, Dec. 19, would have raised the debt ceiling, but it fell short despite Trump and Musk’s backing. Thirty-eight House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against that bill.

Democrats mostly supported the bill but criticized Musk, accusing him of sabotaging and complicating the process.

“At the behest of the world’s richest man who no one voted for, the Congress has been thrown into pandemonium,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said.

“It leads you to the question of; who is in charge? I thought that there was a Republican majority in this body. Not a President Musk majority,” DeLauro added.

The final version of the bill also removed funding for a bipartisan program for pediatric cancer research, as well as research into other diseases, including Down syndrome, and options to treat and detect sickle cell disease, breast cancer and cervical cancer.

A separate bill for pediatric cancer research that passed in the House last March is still awaiting a vote, but Senate Democrats have not brought it up. Republicans have said they support that bill and believe the Senate should approve it there, as opposed to making it part of the continuing resolution.

In the hours following the passage of the continuing resolution, the Senate voted unanimously to approve the bill the House passed last March. That legislation now heads to President Biden’s desk.

Tags: Cancer, cancer treatment, Debt ceiling, Donald Trump, Economy, Elon Musk, Government funding, Government funding bill, Government Shutdown, Health Care, House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, National Debt, U.S. Congress

LAUREN TAYLOR: Democrats and Republicans in the House voted overwhelmingly on Friday evening to approve a bill that would keep the government open until March 14th. It passed just hours before the government would have to shut down.

This bill did not include a continuation of the suspension of the debt ceiling, something President-elect Donald Trump advocated for. It did include language from the annual Farm Bill as well as disaster relief aid.

This bill was what’s known as a continuing resolution, or a C.R. for short.

Rep. Mark Alford – (R)-MO:“Twas five days before Christmas and all through this house not a lawmaker was resting, not even their spouse. The C.R. stalled, the debates full of heat, while a shutdown shadow loomed over our streets. My friends, it’s time to fund our defense and aid for our farms, and disaster relief to protect our very own citizens from harm.”

LAUREN TAYLOR: It’s gone through multiple revisions in the last few days. House Speaker Mike Johnson did not move the first version forward after extensive public criticism of the bill from Elon Musk and President-elect Trump.

A second version that would raise the debt ceiling fell short despite Trump and Musk’s backing. 38 House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against that bill.

Democrats mostly supported the bill but criticized Musk, accusing him of sabotaging and complicating the process.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro – (D) CT: At the behest of the world’s richest man who no one voted for, the Congress has been thrown into pandemonium. It leads you to the question of, who is in charge? I thought that there was a Republican majority in this body. Not a President Musk majority.

LAUREN TAYLOR: The bill also removed funding for a bipartisan program for pediatric cancer research, as well as research into other diseases, including Down syndrome, and options to treat and detect sickle cell disease, breast cancer and cervical cancer.

This bill keeps that funding out..

Republicans advocated for instead passing some of the language cut out of the bill as separate pieces of legislation, but with this Congress ending, the bills would need to restart the lawmaking process from the beginning.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

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