The House choked down a $1.3 trillion spending bill on Thursday, just 17 hours after it was first made public.
Despite stiff opposition from both Republicans and Democrats, the House passed the bill 256-167.
Republicans made it clear they weren’t happy with the substance of the bill or the way it was rushed to a vote, as 91 GOP lawmakers voted it down. They were joined by 77 Democrats.
The bill was introduced late Wednesday, and represents a bipartisan agreement to boost spending for the rest of the fiscal year. But while the rushed process and policy provisions led to opposition from dozens of Republicans and Democrats, big increases for domestic and military spending were enough to attract a bipartisan majority in favor of the bill to fund the government through September.
Democrats in particular found it hard to vote against a bill that increases domestic spending by $63 billion.
“They raised the spending caps,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who voted for the bill. “That was the number one or two reason” for Democrats to vote for the bill.
The bill’s spending limits, raising spending for both military and domestic programs, were agreed to in a February deal that passed both chambers and was signed into law by the president. But leaders added last-minute add-ons, known as riders, as well as changes to how money will be appropriated.
Many lawmakers said they couldn’t vote for the bill and needed more time to study those changes that were part of a 2,232-page bill that lawmakers had just hours to examine.
“I’m a no,” Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., told the Washington Examiner as he left the House chamber. He leads the conservative Republican Study Committee, a group that counts more than half of House Republicans as members.
“You get a bill, 2,300 pages, and you are supposed to vote the next day; I just have a problem with that,” Walker said.
Most of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, comprised of about three dozen members, voted against it because of the spending increases and lack of review time.
Earlier in the day, a faction of 25 conservatives tried to block a vote to advance the bill, working with Democrats to defeat the rule for the legislation. Republican votes against rules for GOP bills are rare, and the vote was a sign many Republicans would vote against it.
But they were stopped by GOP leaders who gaveled the vote closed after the time limit but before 12 people had voted, ensuring a narrow victory for advancing the bill. The move caused an outcry on the House floor from Democrats.
At a press conference ahead of the vote, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., touted the bill’s increase in funding for the military, which has been hobbled by years of spending cuts.
The bill provides $654.6 billion in defense spending, including an overseas budget for the war on terror. Ryan pointed out the bill provides a 2.4 percent pay raise for the troops.
He also pushed back against criticism that the bill was rushed to the floor and broke the general rule providing three days for lawmakers to look at legislation before voting. Ryan said delaying the bill would have risked a partial government shutdown, since a temporary spending measure expires Friday at midnight.
“We have a deadline we are up against, and we don’t want to see a shutdown in the meantime,” Ryan said.
Democrats counted other big wins in the measure, chief among them the way money will be appropriated for border security.
Democrats say the bill will prohibit a concrete southern border wall or any new wall technology beyond what Congress passed more than a decade ago in Secure Fence Act. Democrats say the bill prohibits new immigration enforcement agents dedicated to arresting illegal immigrants and keeps beds at illegal immigrant detention centers current levels.
The House-passed bill heads to the Senate, where consideration is expected as early as Friday but could be delayed if a senator objects to fast consideration, which will require a day to lapse before a vote on the bill.
