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WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation Tuesday to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September, providing critical momentum as the measure now moves to the Senate, where bipartisan support will be needed to get it over the finish line.
Republicans needed overwhelming support from their members to pass the funding measure, and they got it in the 217-213 House vote. Just one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted against the measure. And just one Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted for it.
Golden said voting for the continuing resolution was preferable to a shutdown.
“Even a brief shutdown would introduce even more chaos and uncertainty at a time when our country can ill-afford it,” Golden said. “Funding the government is our most basic obligation as members of Congress. My vote today reflects my commitment to making tough choices and doing my job for the people of Maine.”
Golden noted the resolution calls for $7.951 billion for Navy destroyer funding, which could include a vessel built at Bath Iron Works.
In the Senate, they’ll need support from at least eight Democrats to get the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk. It’s one of the biggest legislative tests so far of the Republican president’s second term, prompting Vice President JD Vance to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to rally support.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., moved ahead on the bill, essentially daring Democrats to oppose it and risk a shutdown that would begin Saturday if lawmakers failed to act on the continuing resolution, often referred to by lawmakers as a CR.
“We did our job today,” Johnson said moments after the vote.
Johnson’s strategy had the backing of Trump, who called on Republicans to “remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right.”
Lawmakers said the bill would trim $13 billion in non-defense spending from the levels in the 2024 budget year and increase defense spending by $6 billion, which are rather flat changes for both categories when compared with an overall topline of nearly $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending. The bill does not cover the majority of government spending, including Social Security and Medicare. Funding for those two programs is on autopilot and not regularly reviewed by Congress.
Democrats mostly worried about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. They are already alarmed by the administration’s efforts to make major cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, run by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk. And they say the spending bill would fuel the effort.
Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the legislation. So the administration will have more leeway to reshape priorities.
For example, a Democratic memo said the bill would allow the administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and instead use it on mass deportation initiatives.
“It is not a simple stopgap that keeps the lights on and the doors open,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “This is Republican leadership handing over the keys of the government, and a blank check to Elon Musk and to President Trump.”
Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged the continuing resolution was not the outcome he sought but said it was time to end the cycle of short-term funding extensions. This will be the third in recent months. He blamed Democrats for trying to rein in Trump’s authority on spending.
“We’re not going to have a Republican Senate and a Republican House restrict a Republican president from the legitimate exercise of executive authority,” Cole said. “And then, oh, by the way, ask him to sign the bill.”
