Johnson Gets Win as House Approves Government Spending Bill Before Election

The U.S. House on Wednesday approved a three-month governmental funding bill to avoid a potential shut down at the end of the month. The bill passed in a 341 to 82 vote.
Every Democrat representative voted yes for the legislation, which includes $231 million in funding for the Secret Service.
Speaker Mike Johnson had attempted and failed to pass a spending bill earlier that was criticized for its potential long-term funding effects on the Pentagon.
The bill was passed under a suspension of the rules, which required two-thirds support.
According to the Associated Press. the House floor was largely empty during debate on Wednesday’s funding bill. Lawmakers in both chambers are returning to their home states and districts to campaign ahead of the November election, which helped clear the path for passage of a temporary funding fix.
The need for a continuing resolution has arisen due to the significant delay in Congress’ completion of the twelve annual appropriations bills, which account for a considerable portion of federal government funding. Out of these twelve, the House has only managed to approve five bills, primarily with party-line votes. The Senate, on other hand, has yet to pass any of these bills.
Former President Donald Trump had earlier called on Republican representatives to not move forward with a spending bill if it did not also include the controversial SAVE Act, a bill that would require that people provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. That measure, however, failed in the House last week.
The legislation also laid out money to aid with the presidential transition.
“This is how things should be done,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) told the Associated Press. “Without brinkmanship, without delay.”
Rep John Rose of Tennessee (R-Tennessee) posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that he voted ‘no’ because it “lacks meaningful spending cuts or policies to secure the border and safeguard American elections.”
“Tennesseans sent me to Washington to make difficult decisions on how to spend their hard-earned taxpayer dollars and not take the easy route by voting for a CR that extends inflationary spending into the lame duck session of Congress,” Rose said in a statement. “With the national debt well over $35 trillion and government deficits topping $1.7 trillion a year, I could not in good conscience support a continuation of the status quo.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) posted to X that she is voting no because she will “not go along and fund a weaponized government without significant spending cuts, border security, or election security.”
“Congress should do its job and pass individual appropriations bills ON TIME!” she posted.
The additional funding to the Secret Service comes amid the department facing heavy criticism for “directly contributing” to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania at his rally in July, according to a Senate report released earlier on Wednesday.
One spectator was killed, and two others were injured during the July 13 shooting, which is officially being investigated as an attempted assassination. Shooter Thomas Crooks was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ 94-page report, released Wednesday morning, shared about a half a dozen problems, including lack of chain of command, poor coordination with local law enforcement, inadequate resources and the failure to effectively secure the site.
The House unanimously passed a bill to require the Secret Service to provide equal standards of protection to presidential candidates and sitting presidents. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, came just five days after a suspected second assassination attempt on Trump, this time in Florida.
Update: 9/25/2024, 5:14 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with more information.
This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information.