The House has passed a temporary government-wide funding bill that would avert a government shutdown this weekend.
However, the measure still faces iffy prospects in the Senate, where Democrats are poised to block it in hopes of spurring slow-moving talks on immigration.
The measure that passed the House would keep the government running through Feb. 16; it also reauthorizes the CHIP children's health insurance program for six years. The 230-197 vote came after an influential bloc of House conservatives won promises of future action on separate legislation to bolster the military and tighten immigration laws. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows announced the group's support after talks with House GOP leaders and President Donald Trump.
However, the spending measure would require bipartisan support in the Senate, where at least a dozen Democratic votes would be needed to break a filibuster. The government faces a partial shutdown at midnight Friday, an outcome both sides say they want to avoid but one that seems increasingly possible.
“Republicans have had months to come up with solutions for a number of things that affect families across this country, and it’s so frustrating they are trying to punt on this yet again. It’s past time for this Republican Congress to actually work with Democrats and offer a serious bill," said Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington.
Washington's House members voted along party lines Thursday with the state's four Republican members supporting the measure and the six Democratic members opposed. Their full statements are below:
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5th District
“CHIP is something both parties agree must get done to provide certainty to more than 60,000 children in Washington state, and their families, who rely on this critical program. Both parties also agree we need a DACA deal, but not having one yet is absolutely no reason to hold children’s health care hostage and shutdown the government. Every Democrat who voted against this bill not only voted for a government shutdown, they voted to deny nearly 9 million children nationwide access to the critical health care they need and rely on.
“Will Senators Murray and Cantwell vote for the Schumer Shutdown or to fund children’s health insurance, support our military, and keep the government open? I hope for the sake of our children and the safety of our nation it’s the latter.”
Rep. Dave Reichert, R-8th District
"I supported this legislation to keep the government running not only because we must ensure our government can continue to provide critical services but also because of what it means for our children. Today, Congress funded CHIP for 6 years - the longest extension we have ever made to this vital program, providing certainty to families across the country who rely on it," said. Rep. Reichert. "Programs like this should not suffer because Congress needs extra time to craft a long-term solution to government spending. I am also pleased that we are providing relief from several taxes that have been burdening American workers, patients, and businesses since passage of the health care law."
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-4th District
“Congress must continue to fulfill our responsibility to provide for vital priorities such as paying our troops and a six-year, long-term reauthorization to fully fund the expired Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides care for 60,000 low-income children in Washington state,” said Rep. Newhouse. “CHIP expired in September. This legislation not only provides the longest extension in the program’s history, but it is fully paid for and increases every year for the next six years. I have already voted in support of renewing the expired CHIP program twice, and I voted to support it again a third time. As a strong supporter of a negotiated legislative solution for DACA beneficiaries, I have continuously pushed for a solution as soon as possible before the March deadline for DACA, and I will continue to do so. I feel the palpable frustration of waiting until the last minute to address multiple issues that have real consequences for people. I supported this legislation today to fulfill responsibilities that are time sensitive, but expired in September. Today’s vote was about ensuring that children in Washington state continue to have access to health care, and I call on my colleagues in the Senate support passage.”
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-3rd District
“While I would much prefer to be voting on a long-term funding solution, today I supported this bill to keep the government open that also includes a six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program that we simply can’t allow to lapse,” Jaime said. “From taking care of vulnerable kids’ health care to keeping vital services funded and averting a shutdown, to providing important tax relief, nothing in this bill is partisan or difficult to support. I hope my Democrat colleagues in the Senate don’t put politics before people and support these critical priorities.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-7th District
“The majority has made a mockery of our legislative process. We just voted on the fourth continuing resolution in nearly four months. This makes no sense. It is no way to govern.
“Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House, and—still—they’re scrambling at the last minute to piece together a patchwork budget that does nothing for the American people. It does nothing but kick the can down the road for another month. It ignores the real challenges we face.
“Once again, we watched Republicans put in the bare minimum. They denied relief for the 1.5 million Dreamers whose future hangs in the balance. They squashed the hopes of the 122 young people who lose their status each day we wait on a DACA fix. They turned their backs on the people suffering from our nation’s rampant opioid epidemic. They told kids who rely on the Children’s Health Insurance Program that their best interests don’t matter by ignoring our need for a permanent CHIP fix.
“I refuse to substitute one family's pain for another's gain. This is more than just a spending decision—it is about the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. It is about the soul of our country. And our country deserves so much better than this.”
Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-6th District
“Governing by manufactured crisis, over and over again, isn’t governing at all,” Rep. Derek Kilmer said. “I supported the first temporary spending plan so that Congress could work out a long-term, bipartisan deal to fund the government. But rather than working together on a bipartisan plan, House Republican leaders chose to go it alone. Today, I opposed continuing to kick the can. I stand with Naval Base Kitsap, the employees at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the Park Rangers at Olympic National Park, the folks at the Forest Service managing our forests, and all the other federal workers in our region who depend on a long-term budget to do their jobs. They should no longer be held hostage by the partisan gamesmanship that comes along with voting on a short-term spending plan every few weeks. Congress needs to do the responsible thing and pass a long-term, bipartisan spending plan right away.”
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-1st District
“Today, the House passed yet another temporary funding bill, once again kicking the can down the road, needlessly manufacturing another potential crisis because they wouldn’t work with Democrats on a long-term, bipartisan solution,” Congresswoman Suzan DelBene said. “As a former CEO, I know firsthand you can’t efficiently run a business for just weeks or months at a time, and the same is true for the government. It’s long past time for Republican leadership, who now control every branch of government, to put an end to this inefficient cycle and broken governance. It’s ludicrous that we waste so much time punting on these funding bills and leave American families and businesses with uncertainty, rather than getting the job done and moving on to issues important to Americans’ success, like housing, education, infrastructure, healthcare, immigration reform and innovative research.”
Rep. Adam Smith, D-9th District
"I’m opposing the CR that the Republicans have put on the floor today for two reasons. First of all, they do nothing to address the immigration situation with DACA, the Dreamers, young people who came to this country through no choice of their own who have lived their entire life here, who President Obama gave a pathway to legal status and then President Trump took away. March 5th is their deadline. 800,000 people in this country, who were told that they could stay here and now are being told that they can’t. There is bipartisan support for this fix, we should vote for it, we should pass it long before the March 5th deadline.
So, I’m voting no for that reason, but also a CR, a continuing resolution, is not funding the government. President Trump and the Republicans seem to think that the government really doesn’t matter, they don’t care about funding it. But we need to fund it, we need appropriations bills, not a continuing resolution. We are already three months plus into the fiscal year of 2018 without appropriations bills. We shouldn’t be passing CR’s, we should be passing appropriations bills and we should be passing DACA fix. So that the Dreamers that were told that they should be able to stay in this country and who should be able to stay in this country, can. So I’m going to vote no, hopefully the Senate will defeat this bill. Hopefully the House will defeat it. But I hear the Senate is likely to defeat it and then Republicans will be forced to negotiate, forced to come to the table and actually do something that should have been done a long time age."
Rep. Rick Larsen, D-2nd District
“Pushing through a fourth Continuing Resolution is as useless as polishing the brass on the Titanic – the ship is still going to sink in just four short weeks. Congressional Republicans need to start working with Democrats to negotiate a bipartisan budget agreement that includes funding for vital programs currently in limbo.
“This bill fails to protect the 17,800 Dreamers in Washington state who make important contributions in our communities, classrooms and workplaces each and every day. These young people urgently need action following President Trump's suspension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
“Repeated stopgap spending bills fail to fully fund public health care services, like Community Health Centers and do not adequately tackle growing problems, like the opioid epidemic.
“Furthermore, the VA Choice program is quickly depleting its resources, which could lead to increased wait times for veterans trying to make medical appointments. This is unacceptable.”
Rep. Denny Heck, D-10th District
“I opposed the continuing resolution brought to the House floor today for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it is not in our national security interest to fund the government for only weeks at a time. Our military needs to plan strategically over the long-term, and they need the certainty a full-year appropriations bill provides. We absolutely must get better at agreeing on a budget on an annual basis.
"The current short-term continuing resolution also includes language to authorize intelligence funds in a way that negates important provisions of law, provisions which demand strict handling of intelligence funding by Congress and ensure oversight of the operations of intelligence agencies, including potentially covert operations. As many can imagine, the work of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is imperative, and I cannot vote for something that could in any way nullify its role in overseeing our national security policies.
“Moving forward, let’s work together to fund our government in a responsible way, ensure the sustainability of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, pass the DREAM Act, and address this nation’s opioid epidemic.”
