U.S. President Joe Biden (R) shakes hands with House Speaker Mike Johnson during the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation’s annual event at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2024.
Brendan Smiarowski | AFP | Getty Images
The Biden administration announced its support for the latest short-term government funding proposal on Tuesday, significantly reducing the likelihood of a partial government shutdown ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
in statement The White House praised the announcement from the Office of Management and Budget. bill It gave Congress “more time to complete an annual appropriations bill later this year that serves America’s defense, veterans, seniors, children and working families, and addresses the immediate needs of the American people, including communities recovering from disasters.”
The statement was not an outright endorsement of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who criticized Republican lawmakers for not including additional funding for disaster relief, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.
“The Administration is deeply disappointed that Republican lawmakers continue to block critical funding the Administration requested to avoid severe disruptions to several essential government services, including effectively ceasing operation of the Small Business Administration disaster loan program later in the fall,” the statement said.
The White House also warned that it would oppose any budget cuts to the Internal Revenue Service in the final spending bill.
The bill, which Johnson introduced Sunday after his initial proposal failed to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives earlier this month, would fund the government until Dec. 20 instead of March 2025. It does not include any parts of the SAVE Act, the controversial voter ID bill.
President Joe Biden and many Democrats in Congress were staunchly opposed to plans to include the SAVE Act in a government funding bill, but Johnson’s own caucus voted down the original appropriations measure when 14 senators opposed it. House Republicans On September 18th, he voted against it.
The new proposal appears to go against the wishes of former President Donald Trump, who publicly called on Republican lawmakers to shut down the government if the SAVE Act is removed from the budget bill.
The latest bill includes $231 million for the Secret Service, but the service’s funding and resources have come under scrutiny in the wake of two assassination attempts on President Trump.
Congress and the White House have until midnight on Sept. 30 to pass and sign the bill into law and avert a looming partial government shutdown just over a month before Election Day.
House Republican aides said Sunday that the funding proposal could come up for a vote in the House as early as Wednesday.
“The Administration seeks swift passage of this legislation in both houses of Congress to avoid a costly and unnecessary government shutdown and ensure sufficient time to pass a full-year fiscal year 2025 spending bill later this year,” a White House statement said.
