The House of Representatives on Thursday passed its 12th and final funding bill for the fiscal year — a productive pivot showing Congress can govern after months of legislative turmoil in the chamber.
The House managed to pass all of its funding bills just months after a stand off on a spending package forced the longest government shutdown in history. Lawmakers are one step closer to avoiding another shutdown by the Jan. 30 funding deadline, pending action by the Senate and president. Lawmakers applauded in the chamber as the final package passed, while the Appropriations Committee’s chair and ranking member, Reps. Tom Cole and Rosa DeLauro, took a photo together on the House floor.
The productive few weeks of churning through spending bills and passing them with bipartisan votes came after months of partisan fights that gridlocked Congress. House leaders couldn’t move forward with their agenda, and Republican leadership faced its own members using procedural maneuvers to force votes on issues they worked to avoid, like releasing the Epstein files and renewing health care subsidies.