House GOP votes to punt government shutdown battle to after November midterms

This post was originally published on this site.

The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday night to punt the threat ofanother government shutdownuntil after the November midterm elections.

House lawmakers passed a bill to extend the current fiscal year’s funding levels until Dec.4 via a measure called a continuing resolution (CR).It would extend several weeks into fiscal year (FY) 2027, which begins on Oct.1.

The legislation passed in a 220 to 205 vote.Just six House Democrats supported the measure compared to 204 who voted against.All but one House Republican supported the bill.

It’s a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Republicans, who are looking to avoid a messy federal spending fight right before what’s expected to be an uphill battle to retain their razor-thin majority.

SENATE WEIGHS NEW, PAINFUL LEVERAGE TACTIC AS FEARS OF ANOTHER GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GROW

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talking with reporters in the U.S. Capitol.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters in the U.S.Capitol on June 10, 2026.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the No.3 House GOP leader, ripped the Democrats who opposed the measure.

“As the marxists and communists battle it out for control of the Democrat party, House Republicans are proving yet again that we are the party that governs and works for the American people.Under President Trump’s leadership, we are the party of commonsense.The other side — led by Commie Mamdani — is the party of chaos and destruction.A majority of Democrats just voted for another damning Schumer Shutdown,” he said in reference to New York City’s self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The current fiscal year saw the longest government shutdown in history, lasting from Oct.1, 2025 until Nov.12, 2025, asSenate Democratsblockaded GOP-led funding priorities for weeks in protest of spending cuts to federal healthcare programs.

And Republicans are warning that Democrats would almost certainly cause another government shutdown right before the election if the fight is not punted until after the early November midterms.

“Unfortunately, given that Democrats have already forced the two longest government shutdowns in American history in this Congress, one of them for 78 days, they’ve already demonstrated they don’t care what kind of pain they inflict on the American people,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.“They’ve shown there’s nothing they’d love more than a government shutdown as tens of millions of Americans head to the polls in November.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told reporters Tuesday that he would vote against the bill along with the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, the panel tasked with overseeing yearly federal spending.

“I think that there are some drafting errors within the CR that give Customs and Border Patrol flexibility to move money around.The administration said that all of that was funded within reconciliation 2.0.and I think they’re creating other opportunities to transfer funds,” Aguilar said.

But even with the House’s victory, it’s not clear that the fight will be over before September.

HOUSE GOP PUSHES BACK ON SENATE’S ‘SKINNY’ PLAN TO END RECORD-BREAKING DHS SHUTDOWN

com/politics/senate-gop-readying-party-line-funding-bill-despite-divisions-anger-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appropriators were craftingtheir own CR.They believe the House’s product lacked key extensions to certain programs that are expected to run out of funding come the Sept.30 deadline.

Those programs, known as anomalies, wereshipped to the Senatefrom the White House on Monday.

Sen.John Hoeven, R-N.D.com/politics/senate-plots-permanent-end-government-shutdowns-bipartisan-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">working together to thwarta shutdown.

He hoped to get the CR onto the floor as soon as this week, given that the House is set to leave Washington, D.C., by the end of the week for a long August recess.

Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Pete Aguilar (D-CA) speaks during a press conference

Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., speaks during a press conference following a caucus meeting in Washington D.C., United States on January 10, 2023. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“Look, we appreciate the House moving forward with theirs.It’s, you know, very clean,” Hoeven said.“There are just a few issues that we think need to be the rest.Because, obviously, we need to get Democrats on board with us, right now, they’re working with us.”

onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.

The move has the full blessing of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

“I think it’s going to be really important that we figure out a path forward to get a bipartisan agreement to fund the government that will keep government open and ensure that government employees are getting paid,” Thune said.“And that is something that I intend to bring to the floor for a vote before the August break.

Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.com