U.S. House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill to Avert Government Shutdown

[Financial News]  

The United States House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill on the 1st (local time), with support from the Democratic Party, to avert a federal government shutdown ahead of the midterm elections in November. The measure would maintain current funding levels through December. Hard-line members of the governing Republican Party had instead threatened to derail it.
Because the bill had already passed the United States Senate before its summer recess, the government will have funding through December 11 once Donald Trump signs it.
Had Congress blocked the bill, a funding gap would have opened after September 30, when the current fiscal year ends, making a shutdown unavoidable. Some analysts also said lawmakers rushed to pass it because those seeking to return to their districts for the midterm elections did not want to be stranded in Washington. The bill passed by an overwhelming margin of 370 votes to 48.
The House used a procedure known as “suspension of the rules” to bring the bill passed by the Senate to the floor without amendments. Under this procedure, debate is limited to 40 minutes. However, passage requires support from two-thirds of the members present, rather than a simple majority.
Members of the Republican Party’s hard-line Freedom Caucus challenged both the bill and the procedure, but they could not stop it. With Democratic Party support, Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker from Louisiana, guided the bill to passage.
Meanwhile, polls indicate that the Democratic Party is highly likely to take control of the House in the midterm elections on November 3. The Republican Party, however, is expected to retain its advantage in the Senate.


[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter