By David Morgan and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Democratic-majority U.S. Senate on Thursday aimed to pass a bill to avert a partial government shutdown, after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved it with less than 36 hours before funding begins to run out.
In the House, 207 Democrats joined 113 Republicans in a 320-99 vote to approve the short-term stopgap measure, which buys Congress more time to agree on funding for the full fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
Some House Republicans said that after Congress got through the current funding fight, their chamber would turn to aid for Ukraine, Israel and other allies. The Senate earlier this month passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he hoped his chamber on Thursday would pass a stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, or "CR," on Thursday evening and forward it to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
It would extend by one week federal funding that expires at midnight on Friday (0500 GMT on Saturday) and set a March 22 funding deadline for other government agencies.
About two months have passed since Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Schumer agreed on a $1.59 trillion discretionary spending level for the fiscal year.
Johnson, who has wielded the speaker's gavel only since late October, once again relied on a procedural move that required Democrats to provide most of the support to pass the CR, a tactic that could anger hardline conservatives.
That and 97 "no" votes from his 219-member Republican conference could spell trouble for the speaker as he takes up six full-year appropriations bills next week and moves on to the thorny issue of Ukraine aid.
Three House Republicans, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, predicted Johnson would take up aid to Ukraine, Israel and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific after completing another six spending bills by March 22.
"I'm the eternal optimist. I think we're going to get it done," said McCaul, who said the legislation could include a loan program instead of direct assistance and provide the means to seize and liquidate Russian sovereign assets as an offset.
Republican Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Don Bacon have also proposed aid legislation for U.S. allies that would revive the return-to-Mexico border policy and strip out humanitarian assistance.
Johnson has been pressured by hardline Republicans to use a shutdown as a bargaining chip to force Democrats to accept conservative policy riders, including partisan provisions to restrict the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Representative Chip Roy told reporters that hardline Republicans now hope to persuade Johnson to put a new CR on the floor that would fund the government through Sept. 30 but cut non-defense spending while preserving spending levels for defense and veterans benefits.
"We believe that we could do that. We believe that actually presents a good alternative," Roy told reporters.
Republican Representative Patrick McHenry predicted that Johnson would face no threat as a result votes on spending legislation, unlike his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, who a small group of hardliners voted out of leadership for passing a bipartisan bill to avert a shutdown in September.
"This is the House Republicans coming to terms with reality," said McHenry. "It's been clear for months that this is the outcome. To get on with it is the best thing."
Major ratings agencies say the repeated brinkmanship is taking a toll on the creditworthiness of a nation whose debt has surpassed $34 trillion.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone, Michael Perry and Jonathan Oatis)
Did you find this insightful?
Bad
Just Okay
Amazing