US House passes Trump-backed bill to avert shutdown, but Senate hurdle remains
Critics say the spending bill hands a ‘blank cheque’ to the US president and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a stopgap bill to keep federal agencies funded past Friday, averting a partial shutdown beginning this weekend even as US President Donald Trump dramatically cuts the government.
The bill passed in a nearly party-line 217-213 vote, with one Republican voting no and one Democrat yes.
The continuing resolution, which largely keeps the government funded at its current level through September 30, would need to be passed by the Republican-majority Senate and signed by Trump into law by Friday to avert a shutdown.
Trump has been pressing Republicans to fall into line, and US Vice-President J.D. Vance urged them to stay unified at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning.
Hardline Republican lawmakers have traditionally opposed the stopgap measures, and Tuesday’s vote marked the first time several of them voted in support of one since the party assumed the majority in the chamber in January 2023.
Congressman Andy Harris, chairman of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, told reporters he supported the measure because it comes as Trump and his adviser Elon Musk are in the midst of a campaign to slash the federal government.
