WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed a Republican measure to fund the government for seven weeks, but the bill failed to advance in the Senate Friday.
Alabama’s delegation split on party lines during votes in both chambers. Now, lawmakers have departed Washington for a weeklong recess, leaving little time to reach a deal before funding runs out Sept. 30.
The continuing resolution would fund the government until Nov. 21. Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other as Congress heads closer to a government shutdown.
“Typically, I’m a no on any CR because they’re bad for defense, but I voted for this one mainly because we’re still talking with the Democrats,” House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers told Alabama Daily News.
“We are not trying to please the extremists on our side or the extremists on the Democrats’ side. We’re talking with the Democrats about trying to get to a package of bills that we can actually pass for the rest of the fiscal year and that gives me optimism.”
All but one House Democrat, including Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, and Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, opposed the measure because it did not include an extension of the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.
“I think we have to prioritize doing what’s best for the state of Alabama,” Figures told ADN. “Healthcare has been one of the bigger issues that we work on and this CR does not do anything to fix or better those healthcare outcomes.”
Republicans have argued that extending the expiring tax credits, which could increase the deficit by $350 billion over 10 years and increase the number of insured Americans by 3.8 million, shouldn’t be addressed on a short-term spending bill.
Figures also said he was opposed to the GOP-led stopgap bill because it does not give Congress any protections to prevent the White House from rescinding already appropriated money.
Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, said he hopes Congress can reach agreements on full-year spending bills during the seven weeks of the stopgap measure to fund the government for the next fiscal year.
“I’m optimistic that by the CR time, maybe we can have our work done and the Senate work done,” Moore told ADN.
Sewell called the short-term measure an “assault on our health care system.”
“I want a real budget,” the Alabama Democrat told ADN. “I don’t want an extension from last year’s budget or the year before last. So it’s really important that we do the simple thing, budget, create funding for the American people (and) for this government, and I look forward to being able to do that.”
After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the House-passed spending bill includes a boost of $30 million for lawmakers’ security. It also includes additional funding for the security of Supreme Court justices and the executive branch. Appropriators are working to add even more money for security in full-year spending bills.
“(After) what happened to Charlie Kirk, obviously, there are now more concerns than there were for our safety, but it’s a start,” Moore said.
Once the House bill made it to the Senate Friday, it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold. A competing Democratic measure that would fund the government until Oct. 31 and extend the expiring ACA tax credits also did not muster enough support.
Alabama Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville supported the House spending measure and voted against the Democratic bill.
“We just want a clean CR…(to) fund the government for a couple months, and then come back and sit down and put our heads to the grindstone and make sure we do what’s right for the American people,” Tuberville told reporters Thursday.
The Senate returns to Washington Sept. 29, one day before the shutdown deadline. House members will not return until after the funding expires.