Government funding bill ‘does what we need it to do’

After a tumultuous 48 hours and change, members of the House passed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s third try at a new funding bill by 366-34, with the Senate working to pass it by 85-11, just after the midnight deadline on Saturday that would have triggered a government shutdown had legislation not passed.

Later that morning, the White House announced that President Joe Biden had signed into law the American Relief Act (H.R. 10545), which funds the government at current levels through March 14, 2025, and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural aid to farmers.

The continuing resolution passed under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority of the lower chamber. With the Senate’s approval and President Joe Biden’s signature, the government shutdown scheduled to kick in at Friday’s end has been averted.

Beyond keeping the government open until March, the continuing resolution included $100 billion in disaster aid for damage caused by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. It will also provide $30 billion in economic aid for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill. The package does not address the debt limit that President-elect Donald Trump wanted to raise, punting the issue to the early part of the Trump administration.

When Johnson unveiled the more than 1,500 page deal on Tuesday, conservative opposition, spearheaded by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, quickly tanked the deal. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance denounced the original spending bill in a statement Wednesday, saying it “would give sweetheart provisions for government censors and for Liz Cheney.”

Democrats were happy to let Johnson and the House GOP squirm for all of Thursday. But on Friday, when the prospect of a shutdown became real, Democrats were forced into getting the funding package across the finish line.

Elon Musk praised Johnson’s action in a post on X Friday, writing, “The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces. Ball should now be in the Dem court.”

“While it does not include everything we sought, it includes disaster relief that the President requested for the communities recovering from the storm, eliminates the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires, and would ensure that the government can continue to operate at full capacity. President Biden supports moving this legislation forward and ensuring that the vital services the government provides for hardworking Americans – from issuing Social Security checks to processing benefits for veterans — can continue as well as to grant assistance for communities that were impacted by devastating hurricanes.”

After the vote, Johnson talked, in reference to spending bill, about “a necessary step to bridge the gap, to put us into that that moment where we can put our fingerprints on the final decisions on spending for 2025,” reported “Good Morning America.”

“We also, in this bill, as you know, took care of Americans who desperately needed and deserve the assistance,” the speaker continued, adding, “We also took care of our farmers, many of whom were on the brink of collapse because of Bidenomics, frankly, because the inflationary cost of their inputs.”

The Louisiana Republican said Trump was pleased with the final bill. “He knew exactly what we were doing and why, and this is a good outcome for the country. I think he certainly is happy about this outcome as well,” he said.

The government funding bill “does what we need it to do” for a short period of time until President-elect Donald Trump and the “Republican trifecta” take office in January, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told Newsmax Saturday.

“It provides disaster relief, and it also provides relief for our farmers to protect our supply chain,” the New York Republican said. “This is something that a lot of us advocated for.”

Malliotakis said Republicans were “very much against the big bad backroom deal” that was initially championed by Johnson but “not presented to Congress and members on the Republican side.”

“We were very much against the big bad backroom deal that was not presented to Congress and members on the Republican side,” Malliotakis said of the first try at the bill. “We were expected to just be rubber stamps, and that was unacceptable.”

But with the measure passed Friday, “we were able to get exactly what we needed, and it was the basics to continue funding this government until President Trump and the Republican trifecta take office next year…it was the best-case scenario in the situation that we were in.”

Meanwhile, Trump had called for a measure to lift the debt ceiling, which was not included in the package passed Friday. GOP leaders said the matter would be part of their debate on tax and border packages in 2025.