No shutdown for now...

Congress clears funding bill, staving off shutdown

The Senate passed the measure soon after it was approved by the House, avoiding a government shutdown at week’s end.

By RACHAEL BADE, JOHN BRESNAHAN and SEUNG MIN KIM

Congress passed a short-term government funding bill Thursday, ensuring that Washington will not face a shutdown just days before Christmas.

The House passed the measure, which would keep federal agencies open through Jan. 19, on a 231-188 vote. The Senate cleared it 66-32 soon after, giving congressional leaders and President Donald Trump another month to hash out a long-term spending deal for the remainder of fiscal 2018.

Lawmakers staved off a last-minute revolt from Democrats who threatened to vote against any funding measure if it didn't include legal protections for young undocumented immigrants who are losing work permits after Trump rescinded an Obama-era executive action. But the contentious issue is sure to return in January when the next round of spending talks resume.

“The Republican continuing resolution serves only to continue the anxiety in the lives of DREAMers, veterans, children and working families across America," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “It had been our hope not only to improve the quality of this bill but to add the DREAM Act to it, which enjoys strong bipartisan support from the American people."

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in an impromptu meeting earlier Thursday afternoon, pressing the New York Democrat to persuade his ranks to reject the funding bill. However, it was clear after the meeting that there would not be enough Democratic senators to block the bill later Thursday over immigration.

“Basically, Leader Schumer promised he’d urge the majority of senators to vote no, as many as possible," Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) said. "And if we can’t get it done now, we will lay it all on the line on the 19th when we come back in January."

The short-term funding bill also extends a federal surveillance program, includes money to continue the Children's Health Insurance Program through March and waives automatic cuts to Medicare and other programs, which were threatened because of the GOP tax bill's big deficit increase. The Senate voted to waive the automatic cuts 91-8 on Thursday.

The House also passed a massive $81 billion disaster aid package Thursday, after dozens of Democrats from states hit by hurricanes and wildfires backed the measure. Pelosi had signaled that members who have districts affected by disasters would not be asked to oppose the measure.

During a private meeting Thursday morning, Speaker Paul Ryan and his team secured support for the government funding bill from almost all Texas and Florida GOP lawmakers who represent areas pummeled by deadly hurricanes this summer. These lawmakers had told party leaders they didn't want to adjourn without passing the disaster aid package.

But the Senate had already signaled that it likely wouldn't approve the disaster aid bill this week due to Democratic opposition to the proposal, which was crafted by the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee.

"I don’t think we have enough time to vote on disaster aid," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. The package now looks likely to languish for weeks.

That left House GOP leaders wondering whether the powerful state delegations would band together and withhold their votes for government funding until the Senate changed course. It turned out, they wouldn't for fear it would cause a shutdown.

"My key issue is to make sure my agriculture community back home is heard," said Florida Republican Dennis Ross. "I can't control what the Senate is going to do, but I can control what I said I was going to do, and getting that supplemental passed is crucial."

Leadership also got some backup from President Donald Trump, who encouraged GOP lawmakers to support the continuing resolution.

"House Democrats want a SHUTDOWN for the holidays in order to distract from the very popular, just passed, Tax Cuts. House Republicans, don’t let this happen. Pass the C.R. TODAY and keep our Government OPEN!" Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

With House Democrats united against a short-term spending plan that doesn’t include their top priorities, Ryan had to rely on his divided conference to carry the bill over the finish line. GOP defense hawks and conservatives alike spent the previous 24 hours criticizing leadership's plan. But Republican leaders had been whipping votes since then and felt confident Thursday afternoon that they could secure the needed 217 Republican votes for passage.

“We’re working through some final issues, but… we’re going to pass our bills,” said House Majority Whip Steve Scalise on Thursday morning, zipping past reporters on the way out of a meeting with the Texas and Florida lawmakers.

The fate of the disaster relief supplemental was initially less certain in the House, as GOP leaders knew they would not find 217 Republican votes for passage. They started reaching out to Democrats for help, with hope that Democrats from Texas and Florida will back the package.

On Wednesday night, House GOP leaders made changes to the hurricane relief bill in hopes of winning Democratic votes. The tweaks to the bill addressed the concerns of Democrats that Puerto Rico was not receiving sufficient help to recover from Hurricane Maria. They also offered to insert a provision stabilizing Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and suggested they could make additional tweaks to the bill.

The last-minute shuffle for votes shows just how difficult it is for Ryan to corral his fractured conference, even just hours after his biggest win as speaker. Hill Republicans celebrated passage of their most significant legislative achievement, tax reform, at the White House on Wednesday afternoon — only to return to the Hill to spar over thorny spending issues.

Even though GOP leaders passed the funding bill Thursday, the House Republican conference remains frustrated by how the year-end scramble was handled. Those tensions were on full display during a Wednesday evening conference meeting, as Pentagon allies stood up and railed against Ryan's plan to fund the government until Jan. 19 without a full-year boost for the Pentagon.

House Armed Services Committee GOP members, including Austin Scott of Georgia, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Mike Turner of Ohio, reminded leaders that they endorsed a yearlong military boost just two weeks ago and criticized their sudden change of course.

GOP leaders responded by telling the conference that there were not 217 votes to pass the original plan, which increased defense spending but left domestic funds flat. Texas and Florida Republicans whipped against the idea when it did not include their own hurricane funding. Then, when leaders added the provision, some conservatives flipped from yes to no because it was not paid for.

Ryan also told the conference that Defense Secretary James Mattis had given his blessing to a short-term funding plan. Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, who has a son is in the military, also grew emotional when she argued that the House needed to pass a straight continuing resolution for the men and women in uniform.

Some House Freedom Caucus conservatives, meanwhile, balked at GOP leadership’s plan to temporarily reauthorize the government’s surveillance authority as part of the spending patch. Conservative sources suggested Wednesday, however, that the issue had been ironed out enough that some members could back the spending bill.