The U.S. House could vote Wednesday on a funding bill that aims to get the federal government up and running again. The compromise would fund much of the government through January 2026 and provide funding for some agencies through the end of next September.
The U.S. Senate passed the measure 60-40 with support from seven Democrats and one Independent. Missouri U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt voted in favor of the bill that is aimed at ending the 42-day federal government shutdown – the longest one in U.S. history. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the sole Republican no vote.
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, a Republican, said he will support the Senate compromise.
“I’m glad it’s finally over,” Graves told Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph. “You know, in a shutdown like this, nobody wins. Republicans don’t win. Democrats don’t win. And it’s extraordinarily frustrating. And who loses is the American public.”
He said House Republicans have the votes needed to pass the legislation, and he expects some Democrats to join them.
“The biggest problem, to be quite honest with you, is everyone coming back and how the flight delays and the cancellations are going to affect people being on the floor,” he said.
Graves, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said once the president signs the bill into law, paychecks will go out within 48 hours.
“The government will get up and running right away,” Graves said. “It will take a little bit longer for flight service to get back to normal. The airlines got to ramp back up again, but I think it’ll be pretty much back to normal by the holiday season by, you know, Thanksgiving.”
The funding package includes backpay for federal employees and fully funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, through September 30, 2026.
The full-year funding measures include money for agriculture, military construction, the VA and the legislative branch. Congress still needs to pass nine other appropriations bills before the funding bill expires at the end of January.
The measure does not include Democratic demands on health care tax credits, though GOP leaders say they’ll allow a vote in December on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. There’s no guarantee that the legislation will pass.
Kansas City Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver opposes the bill.
“From the very beginning of the Republican shutdown, I have said that I cannot support legislation that raises the health care costs of hardworking families across Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District,” Cleaver said in a news release. “Unfortunately, the legislation proposed in the Senate will ensure that tens of thousands of my constituents see their health care premiums skyrocket, some by more than double what they are today. That is a heartless way to govern, particularly at a time when the president is giving $40 billion bailouts to Argentina and spending hundreds of millions to build a gilded ballroom at the White House.”
President Trump has signaled support for the legislation.
Brent Martin, of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph, contributed to this story.
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