House Passes Spending Bill, but its Fate Still Looks Murky in Senate

After Speaker Paul Ryan struck a deal with the Freedom Caucus, House Republicans had the votes to pass a spending bill that would keep the government open through February 16, but the bill’s chances of passing the Senate remains far from certain.

As Politico reported, part of the deal involved agreeing to the Freedom Caucus’ demand for a separate vote on military funding. After the agreement was reached, the bill passed in the House on a 230-197 vote, mostly on party lines, with six centrist Democrats defecting to vote for the bill. Eleven Republicans also voted against the bill, including several members of the Freedom Caucus and two Florida Republicans, Rep. Carlos Curbelo and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who want a solution for the illegal immigrants who have been protected from deportation under DACA.

The next step is a vote in the Senate to consider the House bill; this purely procedural vote is expected to pass but again, the bill itself faces a much more uphill climb, mostly over the DACA issue. Republicans have the majority in the Senate, but are short of the 60-vote threshold needed to thwart a Democratic filibuster, essentially giving the Democrats veto power over the bill.

The House bill attempted to woo Democrats by adding in six years of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but it was unsuccessful in getting enough Senate Democrats on board.

If the Senate cannot pass a bill by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Friday, the government will shutdown. Thus, even with Republicans controlling the White House and majorities in both the House and Senate, the Democrats will have significant leverage over the next roughly 28 hours before the deadline.

President Donald Trump has not made the process easier, initially supporting a bipartisan Senate deal regarding DACA but then backing off, followed by a tweet today attacking Republican efforts to win over Democrats with the extended CHIP funding.

Still, other tweets and recent public comments by the President indicate he is opposed to a government shutdown, so it may be possible to get him on board with additional offers made during the negotiations to get Senate Democrats on board.

As the incomparable Bette Davis famously said in All About Eve, “Fasten your seat belts — it’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter: @rumpfshaker. 

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