Senate tables funding bill as impasse continues


The bill failed in the Senate by a 59-36 vote, after House Republicans passed it 219-203 with the support of only six Democrats. Twenty-three House Republicans defected from their party and voted against the bill. Both Texas Senators voted to take up the bill for consideration, which would’ve moved it to the floor for final passage, but their votes were not enough to overcome the Democratic majority in the Senate.

The budgetary measure was an interim solution that would have taken effect on Sept. 30, after the current funding bill, which was passed in April, expires. But in addition to funding the government through November, the bill would’ve provided $3.6 billion in disaster aid to regions throughout the U.S. devastated by natural disasters.

Republicans insist that any funding that is additional to the baseline Congressional budget must be offset by cuts in other programs, and aimed to cut funds from a Democratic green jobs provision to offset the emergency aid.

A similar measure failed Wednesday night in the House when 48 Republicans voted against the party line, claiming the bill didn’t offset enough of the additional disaster aid. But House Republicans tweaked the original bill by adding $100 million more in cuts from other green initiatives, a move that ultimately convinced 23 Republicans to vote in favor of the bill.

Senate Democrats, however, had expressed reluctance to vote for a bill that included offsets, arguing that cuts to those green initiatives would dampen job creation. The House bill was effectively dead on arrival at the Senate floor.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, said House Republicans shouldn’t be wrangling over disaster spending when so many need it urgently.

“Americans have always stood by those who are suffering and need relief to help rebuild,” Gillibrand said. “That’s exactly what we need to do right now for families and businesses struggling to recover from the trail of devastation that Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee left across New York State. ”

Although Congress was scheduled for a recess at the end of the week, lawmakers will have to continue their work to come up with a budgetary measure that will make it through both chambers of Congress, or the government could shut down after Sept. 30.

“The Senate is ready to stay in Washington next week to do the work the American people expect us to do.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement just before the vote.

Senate lawmakers have not yet indicated how they plan to solve the issue. But with the Federal Emergency Management Authority set to run out of money Monday, and the government to shut down after Sept. 30, Congress is in urgent need of a compromise.

  1. iknowtruthismine says:

    We should not be surprised by the corporate owned majority attaching a rider to the funding bill that holds disaster aid hostage, in an effort to defund green energy. After all, the totally corporate owned Republicans have no choice in the matter, if they want their corporate masters to pay them. The energy conglomerate (oil, gas, and coal, basically the Koch brothers) wants green energy crushed, you can bet dimes to dollars the Republicans will belly up to their open bar and get stinking drunk, as they sell it to their base as a spending cut.

  2. Larry H says:

    What a great idea, this will certainly achieve the Republicans aim to reduce spending. Just think we’ll be able to bring the troops home from Afghanistan. As if we have enough money to pay their fair. That would certainly be a big reduction in spending. We would certainly layoff all the federal employees, I guess we could start with the Secret Service and the Republicans wouldn’t have to spread lies about their opponent. There would be no opponent. You get the idea. Just think how it can cut taxes we have no government expenses. Do they think that we can run this country with 370 million people the same way that on the same budget as what was 150 million population? How stupid the whole thing is a fake and that just acting as usual they know they cannot shut off the money.

RSS feed for comments on this post.