House approves trio of funding bills as spending fight looms

The House on Friday approved a trio of government funding bills that the White House has already threatened to veto if they land on President Biden’s desk, setting the stage for a bitter spending fight later this year.

The three measures — funding foreign operations and the departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security — have virtually no chance of becoming law amid opposition from the White House and Democrats in the House and Senate over the spending levels, partisan policy riders and poison pill amendments.

But Republicans, nonetheless, have sought to clear their version of the spending bills to put the party in a stronger negotiating position during talks with Democrats down the road.

The bills were approved in largely party-line votes: The Pentagon measure passed 217-198, the State Department/foreign operations bill cleared 212-200, and the Homeland Security measures crossed the finish line in a 212-203 vote.

Republicans also voted to add some controversial, partisan amendments to the trio of bills, fueling further opposition among Democrats. In the DHS measure, for example, the chamber voted 193-173 in favor of a measure that would prohibit money from the funding bill to be used to pay the salary of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Other amendments, however, floundered on the floor, including a number of measures that sought to cut off aid for Ukraine. An amendment led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that called for prohibiting funding for Ukraine, for example, failed in a 76-335 vote.

The Pentagon legislation appropriates $833 billion in discretionary spending, marking a 1 percent bump from fiscal 2024.

The State Department/foreign operations, meanwhile, proposes a roughly 11 percent cut in discretionary spending — or $7.6 billion — and allocates 19 percent less funding than Biden’s budget request.

The Homeland Security legislation allocates $64.8 billion in discretionary spending.

With the three spending bills clearing the chamber on Friday, House Republicans have officially moved four of the dozen fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills over the finish line. Earlier this month, GOP lawmakers approved a measure to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction, despite the White House issuing a veto threat.

The push for progress on the appropriations process comes as GOP leaders are trying to make good on an ambitious government funding timeline Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) laid out in October, shortly before he was elected to the top job.

Johnson at the time said he wanted the House to complete consideration of all 12 fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills by July, an aspirational timetable for the fractious GOP conference that has struggled with intraparty agreements all Congress.

If the House does not clear the dozen bills by August recess, Johnson said in October, lawmakers should not leave Washington for the district work period.

Updated at 7:44 p.m. EST.