The House of Representatives approved a short-term measure to keep federal government coffers full after weeks of Republican infighting over the details of the funding bill.
The dramatic process forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to walk a political tightrope after former President Donald Trump intervened in the congressional process.
Last week Johnson tried to pass the same funding bill with an attached illegal immigrant voting reform bill, a special interest of Trump’s, but it failed after Republicans and Democrats voted against it.
So Johnson cut the item off his wish list and put the bill back up for a vote on Wednesday, where it passed with bipartisan support.
But just hours before the vote, Trump and his team tried to drum up support for the funding and voting bill combination once again, The hill It was first reported, noting how the former president tried to kill the deal at the last minute.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (center) leaves his office on Capitol Hill. The House and Senate will vote later in the day on a spending bill that would fund federal agencies through Dec. 20 and avert a possible partial government shutdown.
Trump himself reportedly called several of the 14 House Republicans who previously voted against his preferred bill last week.
Many of those who voted against the funding package and the SAVE Act (which would require proof of citizenship for those registering to vote) did not vote against the deal because of the conservative law.
Many opposed the approved funding levels.
The former president reportedly wanted something added to the funding bill on Wednesday that could include restrictions similar to those in the SAVE Act, The Hill reported.
But the packages passed without him on Wednesday and were the last vote the House will take until well after the November election, giving them time to get to their districts to campaign.
Members, especially those in close re-election races, are eager to get home to make their case to voters.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where it is also expected to receive bipartisan support and pass through the upper chamber tonight.
This will also allow senators to leave the city to campaign.
The funding process became turbulent earlier this month when Trump posted on his Truth Social app that Johnson should risk a government shutdown over the addition of the SAVE Act.
The Republican reasoning was that vulnerable Democrats would side with them on a bill that further restricts illegal immigrants from voting in federal elections, something they repeatedly said was supported by 90 percent of Americans.
But Johnson’s Trump-inspired tactic backfired after 14 Republicans voted against the measure, including nearly all Democrats.
