House lawmakers approved three appropriations bills on Thursday to fund the State Department and foreign operations, the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security through fiscal year 2024, as Republicans inch closer to a vote on measures that could temporarily avert a government shutdown. .
The State Department and foreign operations legislation passed in a 216-212 vote, with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) voting against the bill — the only Republicans to do so.
A provision in the annual spending bill that would provide funds to Ukraine as it fights Russian aggression is a sticking point for some Republican lawmakers, such as Greene, who called the $50 billion bill a “blank check for [President] Joe Biden to fund his proxy war in Ukraine.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) stripped $300 million in Ukraine aid from Wednesday night’s defense spending bill in an effort to gain more GOP support for the measure.
A countdown clock for the remaining time before the government shutdown is seen in the House chamber. APentagon bill, no Ukraine aid, clears lower house in 218-210 vote. C-SPAN
The Pentagon bill, without Ukraine’s help, cleared the lower house in a 218-210 vote, with two Republicans, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.), opposed it and two Democrats, Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), joined Republicans to pass it.
A stand-alone bill providing $300 million in aid to Ukraine passed Thursday in a 311-117 vote, with more than 100 Republicans joining all Democrats in passing the legislation.
The Homeland Security spending measure, which includes more than $2 billion for construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border, passed 220-208, with Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez again joining Republicans to pass the legislation.
The House passed three remaining spending bills days before the government shutdown, with one of them a stand-alone bill providing $300 million in aid to Ukraine. C-SPAN House Speaker Kevin McCarthy strips $300 million in Ukrainian aid from defense spending bill.C-SPAN
The bill’s passage marks the first time since July that the House has been able to send appropriations legislation to the Senate.
House and Senate leaders are scrambling to pass 12 appropriations bills by January 1, 2024, to avoid a 1% across-the-board cut in federal spending.
A successful vote on Thursday would not affect the government’s September 30 funding deadline, but could prompt conservative hardliners to support a short-term funding stopgap, known as a continuing resolution.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) opposes the State Department and foreign operations spending bill. C-SPAN
The House is expected to take a vote on a continuing resolution that would fund the government for an additional 30 days on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Senate is considering its own bipartisan shutdown measure that would keep the government open until Nov. 17.
“I still have time. I have time to do other things,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday afternoon, adding, “At the end of the day, we’ll get it all done.”
The US Capitol is seen as the government shuts down in Washington, DC, on September 28, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
The speaker suffered a minor blow Thursday when the House failed to pass the annual agriculture spending bill in a 191-237 vote that saw 27 Republicans join all Democrats in opposing it.
Republicans who opposed the bill expressed concern with provisions that would ban abortion pills from being sold through the mail and at retail pharmacies, and cut programs that support farmers.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
