Government
House Passes Continuing Resolution With Cuts to Construction Spending
Lawmakers have until Friday night to pass a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.
Photo by Capt. Joe Legros/Army National Guard
The House passed legislation March 11 to fund the federal government through through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, but it is unclear whether Republicans have enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill, which includes billions of dollars in cuts to construction programs.
Lawmakers voted largely along party lines, passing the continuing resolution by a vote of 217-213. Only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.) voted against the spending bill, and only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) voted in favor.
“It’s a clean [continuing resolution],” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters after the vote. “It freezes funding. That’s the responsible thing to do.”
Cuts in Corps of Engineers, Transportation Funding
The bill cuts $13 billion from nondefense spending, while increasing defense spending by $6 billion compared to fiscal 2024 enacted levels. For construction, those cuts include $1.4 billion from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil projects and $2 billion from transportation safety projects.
The stopgap spending bill now goes to the Senate, where it will need bipartisan support by the night of March 14 to avert a government shutdown. Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate and need 60 votes to advance the bill. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has already said he will vote against it.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, criticized cuts in the bill and said it would give too much direct control over government spending to President Donald Trump and his unofficial advisor Elon Musk. Murray has introduced a competing short-term spending bill that would give lawmakers another month to negotiate a full-year bill.
“House Republicans are not trying to responsibly fund the government,” Murray said on the Senate floor. “They are trying to turn it into a slush fund for Trump and Musk to wield as they see fit so they can shift their focus entirely to tax cuts for billionaires.”
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However, some Democrats have said they would support the bill. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that despite disagreeing with many points in the spending bill, he would "never vote to shut our government down.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), appropriations committee chair, said lawmakers should focus “on preventing an unnecessary and costly government shutdown.”
