The likelihood of a federal government shutdown appeared to drop on Saturday when the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a temporary funding or “stopgap” bill which would keep the federal government open. Today’s version lacked Ukrainian funding but abandoned conservative efforts to achieve deep spending cuts.
H.R. 5860 passed 335-91 and funds the government for 45 days.
Senators have until Midnight to adopt the measure or force a shutdown; with the House gaveled into recess until Monday, the Democrat-controlled Senate now needs to take it or leave it and own the final decision to shutter agencies.
All nine Democrats in the delegation supplied YEA votes.
Chris Smith (R, NJ-04) and Tom Kean Jr. (R, NJ-07) voted in favor of the stopgap.
“From the beginning of this debate I did not support shutting down the government, and I am encouraged that Republicans and Democrats worked together to get this done,” said Kean. “Today we came together to keep government open, pay our troops, and fully fund disaster relief so places like Warren County will have the vital resources they need. These priorities are not political bargaining chips, and with today’s achievement I will continue to fight for fiscal responsibility.”
Jeff Van Drew (R, NJ-02) opposed the compromise legislation. According to sources close to the Congressman, the absence of aggressive measures to secure the Southern Border (present in an earlier version) made the bill unacceptable in his eyes.
