Congress
House GOP one step closer to passing stopgap funding bill
The House GOP’s seven-month stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown is one step closer to passage.
Republicans stayed mostly united on a test vote on the measure Tuesday afternoon, paving the way for a vote on final passage later in the day — just three days before the deadline to prevent a lapse in federal funding.
The 216-214 vote bodes well for Speaker Mike Johnson, who can’t, in his razor-thin majority, afford more than a couple GOP defections on a bill that isn’t expected to garner much, if any, Democratic support.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has pledged to oppose the bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year — while slashing non-defense funding by roughly $13 billion and increasing defense spending by about $6 billion. The fiscal conservative has never supported a continuing resolution, otherwise known as a CR, and joined all Democrats in opposing the procedural rule governing floor consideration of the measure.
President Donald Trump, who is heavily supportive of the funding package, has railed against Massie for stepping out of line, leveraging threats of backing a primary challenge against the incumbent lawmaker that could have a chilling effect on other Republicans, too.
House Republican appropriators are publicly rebuking the Trump administration for seeking must-have military cash through a party-line reconciliation bill that’s not guaranteed to clear Congress.
In a report they plan to release later this week, obtained by Blue Light News, House appropriators warn that the White House is trying to fund “critical efforts” like weapons and military equipment through the party-line process, rather than using it to “scale up” military dollars beyond Congress’ regular government funding bills.
“This approach is risky and uncoordinated,” reads the report, an official addendum that goes along with the chamber’s defense funding bill for the fiscal year that starts in October.
In particular, appropriators criticized President Donald Trump’s budget request for splitting funding for the F-35 fighter, the most expensive program in Pentagon history, between the two bills.
The annual government funding bills and the reconciliation process are “entirely separate tracks, with different timelines, committees of jurisdiction, and approval processes,” the report notes.
Many Republican lawmakers are also doubtful GOP leaders will succeed in enacting another party-line package this year.
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
The House will begin consideration of a bipartisan housing bill Tuesday, with a final vote potentially taking place the same day, accelerating a previous plan to secure congressional passage of the legislation, according to four people familiar with the planning granted anonymity to discuss planning not yet public.
The Senate will hold a final vote on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Monday.
House leadership had planned to fast-track approval of the housing affordability bill by suspending the rules, a maneuver that limits debate but requires a two-thirds majority vote, as soon as Wednesday, but are looking to move that process a day earlier, the people said.
President Donald Trump is expected to hold a signing ceremony for the bill as soon as Wednesday, said two people familiar, involved with the planning conversations.
The housing bill aims to tackle housing affordability and boost homeownership and supply as the looming midterm election is dominated by cost-of-living concerns and Congress has a narrowing window to get legislation through before the August recess.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Alan Dershowitz is scheduled to speak with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on July 20 as part of its ongoing Jeffery Epstein investigation.
“I asked to be allowed to set the record straight and correct various misconceptions,” Dershowitz said in a text message. “I look forward to doing so.”
The prominent criminal defense attorney who once represented O.J. Simpson and President Donald Trump also worked on Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, which many have argued allowed Epstein — who died by suicide behind bars in 2019 — to continue to prey on young women and girls for another several years before his later incarceration.
The Oversight Committee is separately set Friday to interview investor Leon Black, whose business dealings with Epstein have been under congressional scrutiny for years.
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