President Joe Biden comments on the stopgap funding measure passed by Congress on Sept. 30 and signed by Biden on the eve of a government shutdown on Oct. 1. In his remarks, Biden blamed so called MAGA Republicans for creating the financial crisis (Image courtesy of Facebook).
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With just minutes to spare, Congress passed a stopgap funding measure Sept. 30 to avoid a federal government shutdown on Oct. 1.
The continuing resolution funds government operations through mid-November, giving the House and Senate another 45 days to pass the 12 appropriations bills necessary to fund the federal government for the entire 2024 fiscal year.
The stopgap funding bill — which passed the House by vote of 335-to-91 and the Senate by a vote of 88-to-9 — split Utah’s congressional delegation.
All three of Utah’s Republican congressmen — Representatives Blake Moore, John Curtis and Burgess Owens voted in favor of the House bill.
When the measure went to the Senate, it was also supported by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).
Of Utah’s delegation, only Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) voted against the continuing resolution.
In a prepared statement issued late Saturday, Lee condemned what he called “11th hour continuing resolutions with no spending reforms, no border security and no check on unconstitutional policies …”
Such stopgap spending, he argued, merely “ … perpetuates an intentionally broken system.”
With much more to lose, Moore strongly supported the funding measure that would keep paychecks flowing to service men and women at Hill Air Force Base and to more than 40,000 federal workers in the 1st Congressional District that Moore represents.
“I was proud to join the Utah House delegation and vote for today’s continuing resolution,” Moore said on Sept. 30.
“So far,” he added, “House republicans have passed 74 percent of our discretionary federal funding. We have prioritized defense, veterans and homeland security.
“We are the only chamber (in Congress) that has passed anything at all, “ Moore explained, emphasizing that his House colleagues recently passed four major appropriations bills, compared to nothing that has passed the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Ultimately, passage of the continuing resolution came down to last-minute negotiations over billions of dollars of additional aid for the Ukraine.
The House bill did not include new aid for the Ukrainians in their war with Russia as a concession by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to hard-line conservatives who have been threatening to shut down the government for weeks.
The Senate version of the bill would have including that funding. After consulting with Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), however, the Democratic leadership of that chamber accepted the House proposal without changes.
“I am glad that Congress reached an agreed to fund the federal government without throwing additional billions of taxpayers dollars overseas,” Lee said, applauding that concession.
“I am also proud that we defeated far worse proposals on the table.”
“I am committed to finishing the job (of Congress) and responsibly lowering federal spending,” Moore counters, “while ensuring that the government stays open and works for the American people.”
While the stopgap measure signed by President Joe Biden on Sept. 30 did not include funding for the Ukraine or border security, it did include a measure to keep the Federal Aviation Administration operational and its employees at U.S. airports on-the-job.