Congress dodges shutdown with budget patch through midterms

The House overwhelmingly passed a bill to keep the government funded until December, avoiding the threat of a politically damaging shutdown fight before the midterm elections.WASHINGTON (CN) — House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed Tuesday to punt the annual federal budget fight until after the midterm elections, approving a stopgap budget that will keep government programs funded into the winter.The overwhelmingly bipartisan vote on the short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, all but guarantees the government will avoid a costly and potentially politically damaging shutdown looming at the end of the month.The House on Tuesday afternoon voted 370-48 to pass the resolution, which freezes government funding at current levels through Dec. 11. The fiscal year was slated to end Sept. 30.Democrats largely agreed to back the stopgap budget after securing a key concession from Republicans in the form of a provision slow walking a Trump administration program that would hand political appointees the keys to government grant money. But Republicans could end that delay in future spending legislation.The Senate approved its version of the continuing resolution last month before leaving Washington for its annual summer recess. That process, however, was hampered by disagreements over a provision delaying a proposed government ban on hemp.The hemp language was equally concerning to some conservative lawmakers in the House, who said they’d vote against the continuing resolution unless it was “clean” — that is, a short-term budget without any added policy riders.Ultimately, the complaints of the House Republican conference’s right flank were not enough to sink the continuing resolution.In addition to sidestepping a government shutdown, the budget patch ensures that neither party suffers the political consequences of a budget battle in the weeks before the consequential midterm elections. But the outcome of that contest may play into what’s sure to be a pitched battle over the federal budget at the end of the year, depending on which party controls Congress.Still, it was unlikely that Democrats and Republicans would reach any sort of consensus on full-year spending bills before the Sept. 30 fiscal deadline. Budget talks that began over the summer hit a wall in July.Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans had made “remarkable progress” toward returning to what he described as regular order in the congressional appropriations process, under which committees of jurisdiction handle corresponding budget legislation.“Our appropriators have worked very hard to restore that muscle memory, and we are really grateful for their work because that is how you act as a good steward of taxpayer dollars and resources,” said Johnson.Consensus on Tuesday’s continuing resolution comes hot on the heels of two major government funding lapses that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are loath to repeat in an election year. Congress last year presided over the longest shutdown in U.S. history, spurred on by Democrats who refused to approve spending legislation that would allow certain Obama-era healthcare subsidies to expire.In the spring, lawmakers triggered a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security as Democrats protested the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents on the streets of Minneapolis. That funding lapse continued for months but ended without any of the reforms to immigration enforcement demanded by Democrats.This time around, President Donald Trump is expected to sign the stopgap budget legislation averting a shutdown and keeping the government funded until after the midterm elections.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads