House passes Trump deal on majority Democratic vote
The House on Friday cleared a short-term measure to avoid a government shutdown and raise the debt limit through December, ratifying a deal President Trump struck with Democrats.
Lawmakers voted 316-90 for the package that includes more than $15 billion in disaster recovery aid for communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. The majority of House Republicans voted for the bill, something that had been uncertain, but more of the votes in favor came from Democrats.
All of the 90 votes in opposition were from Republicans.
The House voted earlier in the week to approve a standalone measure to provide federal assistance for Harvey relief in an overwhelming 419-3 vote. But many conservatives balked at the final bill, which became a three-month extension of the debt ceiling with no spending reforms.
During a meeting in the Oval Office this week, Trump rejected a proposal from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to extend the debt limit for 18 months so that lawmakers wouldn’t have to deal with the thorny issue again until after the 2018 midterm elections.
Democrats, who sought to maximize their leverage knowing GOP leaders would likely need their votes to avoid a default, insisted on a three-month extension. Despite protestations from GOP leaders, Trump went with the offer from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The biggest fiscal fights of the year will now be pushed to December, when lawmakers typically are under pressure to reach deals before leaving for the holidays.
Under the package approved Friday, government funding will run out on Dec. 8.
The measure also includes a temporary extension of the National Flood Insurance Program that will expire on the same date.
The disaster aid includes $7.4 billion for disaster relief, $7.4 billion in emergency funds for Community Development Block Grants and $450 million for the Small Business Administration disaster loan program.
Four Texas Republicans voted against the measure, despite the devastating impact of Hurricane Harvey on their state: Reps. Joe Barton, Jeb Hensarling, Sam Johnson and Mac Thornberry. None of the four represent areas designated by FEMA for disaster assistance from Hurricane Harvey.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus also opposed the package, including Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Dave Brat (Va.), Scott Perry (Pa.) and Mark Sanford (S.C.).
But two other Freedom Caucus members from Texas did cast their votes in favor: Reps. Louie Gohmert and Randy Weber, both loath in the past to vote for debt limit hikes without spending reforms, were among the 133 Republicans to support it.
The Republican Study Committee, the largest GOP caucus in the House with more than 150 members, opposed the deal.
“Republicans campaigned on changing the status quo, and Americans elected us based on that message,” RSC Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.) said in a statement.
GOP leaders pushed to attach a debt limit extension to the hurricane aid out of concerns that the billions of dollars needed to clean up after the disaster would result in the U.S. hitting the debt limit earlier than the originally expected date of Sept. 29.
With another major hurricane set to make landfall in the U.S. this weekend, Ryan explained that Congress needed to act quickly to ensure the Federal Emergency Management Agency wouldn’t run out of money.
“People on their smartphones are quickly applying for their FEMA relief, and those applications are being approved, and that money is going out the door at such a faster pace than we’ve ever experienced before, to the point where [the Office of Management and Budget] is telling us FEMA could run out of money as early as [Friday], and no later than Tuesday,” Ryan said at a news conference on Thursday.
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