House Republicans passed a government funding bill late Wednesday night, bringing Democrats' record-breaking shutdown closer to a welcome end.
The continuing resolution passed in a 222-209 vote, with 216 Republicans voting in favor and 209 Democrats voting against the funding bill. Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida, voted against the bill.
'Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price.'
Several Democrats also crossed the aisle, with a handful voting in favor of reopening the government. Democrat Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who is retiring at the end of this term, bucked his party, alongside Reps. Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Tom Suozzi of New York.
The resolution is now headed to President Donald Trump's desk, where he is expected to sign the bill into law Wednesday night and reopen the government.
The House vote took place just days after eight Democrat senators caved over the weekend and voted alongside Republicans to pass the funding bill in the Senate Monday night. These Democrats include Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Angus King (I) of Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
Although some lawmakers crossed the aisle to reopen the government, Democrats ultimately failed to secure commitments from Republicans to negotiate health care policy.
"For over six weeks, Democrats held our country hostage over demands for health care for illegal aliens and to prove to their base they could 'stand up' to President Trump," Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (Texas) told Blaze News.
"Let me be clear: Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price," Pfluger added. "Now, it is time to get back to governing and delivering on the mandate we were given by the American people last November."
RELATED: Senate Republicans pass key deal with Democrat defectors as end to record-long shutdown draws near
The reason Democrats shut down the government in the first place was to force the GOP to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
Democrats fell short, securing only a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on extending the subsidies. Notably, this offer was available to Democrats on day one of the government shutdown.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
While congressional Democrats continue to dig their heels in, the federal government has officially shut down for the first time in over half a decade.
The government shut down at midnight on October 1 after Democrats continuously blocked the Republican-led funding bill in the Senate. The GOP's funding bill is a clean, 91-page continuing resolution with no partisan anomalies. The only new provision in the Republican bill is a bipartisan provision that boosts security funding for politicians in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's horrific assassination.
'The ball is in the Democrats’ court.'
Rather than passing the clean bipartisan resolution, Democrats have insisted on ramming through their $1.5 trillion funding bill that reverses every meaningful legislative accomplishment Congress passed earlier in the year with President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Some of these Democratic priorities include continuing $350 billion worth of Biden-era subsidies, reviving federal funds for PBS and NPR, and reinstating public health care benefits for illegal aliens.
"House Republicans passed the SAME clean, nonpartisan CR that Chuck Schumer himself voted for back in March — and called 'the right thing to do,'" Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote in a post on X. "The ONLY thing that’s changed since then is pressure from his base to close down the government. That’s not leadership, it’s cowardice."
RELATED: White House dares Democrats with nuclear response to looming shutdown
"The ball is in the Democrats’ court," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said in a post on X. "But Chuck Schumer wants a Schumer shutdown."
The House previously passed the GOP's continuing resolution in a 217-212 vote, with just one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, joining Republicans to keep the government open. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted against the bill.
The Senate eventually took up both the Republicans' clean CR and the Democrats' hyper-partisan funding bill on Tuesday, both of which failed. Although Republicans enjoy a supermajority in Congress, the CR needs 60 votes to pass the Senate. Assuming all 53 Republicans vote for the bill, at least seven Democrats will have to cave to reopen the government.
Notably, Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as well as independent Sen. Angus King of Maine voted in favor of the Republican funding bill. One GOP senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against it. Both bills will be up for a vote again in the Senate on Wednesday.
Although shutdowns have historically proven to be unpopular, Republicans are seizing the opportunity to continue implementing the MAGA mandate.
Ahead of the shutdown, Russell Vought's Office of Management and Budget began circulating a memo directing different agencies to identify programs whose funding would lapse following the shutdown and to begin drafting reduction in force notices for employees who would be affected.
As of this writing, Vought announced that roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been halted to "ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles."
"It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict," Vought wrote in a memo released Tuesday. "Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities. We will issue another memorandum indicating that government functions should resume once the president has signed a bill providing for appropriations."
To Vought's point, it remains unclear how long Democrats will allow the government to stay closed. The last shutdown began on December 22, 2018, during Trump's first term, after Congress failed to approve a spending package that included funding for Trump's border wall. The shutdown lasted 35 days, the longest in history.
The government eventually reopened on January 25, 2019, after Congress reached a deal to pass a temporary spending bill without border funding, and Trump signed it.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The House narrowly passed a short-term funding bill that keeps the government open and boosts funding for security for government officials in light of Charlie Kirk's atrocious assassination.
The GOP-led continuing resolution is a slim 91-page bill that keeps the lights on through November 21. In accordance with the White House request, the bill also includes spending anomalies that increase funding for security, allocating $30 million for Congress, $30 million for the executive branch, and $28 million for the judicial branch, totaling $88 million.
'Republicans are doing the actual work of governing.'
The CR passed the House Friday morning in a 217-212 vote, with Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana bucking their party.
Just one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, joined 216 Republicans to keep the government open before the September 30 funding deadline.
"House Republicans passed a clean continuing resolution that preserves President Trump's rescissions and keeps the government funded while we work to finalize conservative full-year appropriations bills and return to regular order that will deliver real results for the American people,"Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (Texas) said.
"Now the Senate must act swiftly to pass this CR and avoid the costly disruption of a government shutdown. House Republicans are doing the actual work of governing while Democrats demand a progressive reckless wish list instead of working with us to put Americans' priorities first."
Although one Democrat eventually aided Republicans in passing the continuing resolution, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is still digging his heels in.
Schumer and his Democrat colleagues are insistent that the Republican-led funding bill will push the government to shut down. Democrats even proposed their own funding alternative that boasts a hefty $1.5 trillion price tag, including a continuation of $350 billion worth of Biden-era subsidies, funneling millions to illegal aliens and left-wing organizations, and reversing billions of dollars in spending cuts Congress already codified.
RELATED: Why did Cory Mills come to Ilhan Omar's rescue?
Despite Democrats' grandstanding, the Republicans' resolution is headed to the Senate and is expected to sail through sometime next week.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
www.theblaze.com