US House passes $1.2tn spending bill hours before shutdown deadline

The House voted Friday to pass a $1.2tn spending package that would fund much of the federal government through September, with just hours left to avert a partial shutdown. The bill now advances to the Senate, which will have to act quickly to keep the government open.

The House vote was 286 to 134, with 101 Republicans and 185 Democrats supporting the funding bill. Twenty-two Democrats and 112 Republicans opposed the proposal.

The House speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, introduced the bill under suspension of the rules, meaning that he needed the support of two-thirds of members to pass the proposal. The bill barely crossed that threshold, and Johnson did not win the the support of the majority of his conference as he had hoped. The widespread opposition among House Republicans raised questions about the future of Johnson’s speakership, which began only five months ago.

Just before the funding bill passed, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Republican of Georgia, was seen giving a resolution to the House parliamentarian. Punchbowl News reported that the resolution was a motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership, but it remains unclear whether Greene has the votes to remove him. The House is also now scheduled to go on recess for two weeks, so any potential vote on removing Johnson would not occur until next month at the earliest.

On the government funding front, the spending package now advances to the Senate, where members will have to unanimously agree on fast-tracking the bill’s passage to prevent a shutdown. If the Senate can pass the bill, Joe Biden has already said he will “immediately” sign it once it reaches his desk.

The bill would fund about 70% of the federal government for the rest of the