House narrowly passes three spending bills with days to go before government shutdown

House lawmakers narrowly passed three appropriations bills Thursday that fund the State Department and foreign operations, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security through fiscal year 2024, as Republicans inch closer to a vote on a measure that could temporarily avert a government shutdown.

The State Department and foreign operations legislation passed in a 216-212 vote, with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa) voting against the bill – the only Republicans to do so. 

Provisions in the annual spending bill that would make funds available to Ukraine as it counters Russia’s invasion were a sticking point for some Republican lawmakers, such as Greene, who called the $50 billion bill a  “blank check  for Joe Biden to fund his proxy war in Ukraine.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) stripped $300 million in Ukraine aid from the Defense spending bill Wednesday night in an effort to garner more GOP support for the measure. 

The Pentagon bill, absent Ukraine aid, cleared the lower chamber in a 218-210 vote, with two Republicans – Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) – opposing it, and two Democrats – Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wa.) – joining Republicans to pass it. 

A stand-alone bill providing $300 million in aid to Ukraine passed Thursday in a 311-117 vote to approve the funding, with more than 100 Republicans joining all Democrats in approving the legislation. 

The Homeland Security spending measure, which includes more than $2 billion for construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border, passed 220-208, with Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez once again joining Republicans to pass the legislation. 

The passage of bills marks the first time since July that the House has been able to send appropriations legislation to the Senate. 

House and Senate leaders are scrambling to pass 12 appropriations bills by Jan. 1, 2024, to avoid a 1% across-the-board cut in federal spending. 

The flurry of successful votes Thursday will not impact the Sept. 30 government funding deadline, but could nudge conservative hardliners to support a short-term funding stopgap, known as a continuing resolution. 

The House is expected to take up a vote on a continuing resolution that would fund the government for an additional 30 days on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Senate is considering its own bipartisan stopgap measure that would keep the government open through Nov. 17. 

“I still got time. I’ve got time to do other things,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday evening, adding, “At the end of the day, we’ll get it all done.”

The speaker was dealt a minor blow Thursday when the House failed to pass the annual agriculture spending bill in a 191-237 vote that saw 27 Republicans join all Democrats in opposing it. 

Republicans opposing the bill expressed concerns with provisions that would ban abortion pills to be sold through the mail and in retail pharmacies, and cut programs that support farmers.