The House passed a last-minute bill to avoid a government shutdown Thursday night, sending it to the Senate where it faces a much higher hurdle on the way to President Donald Trump‘s desk.
The bill now heads to a Senate where lawmakers face a tougher task in extending government funding. The chamber needs to garner 60 votes for a spending bill. At least four Senate Republicans have said they will oppose the bill, and many more Democrats have committed to voting against it.
Majority House Republican leaders had to keep nearly all of their members in line in order to approve the short-term spending legislation by a 230 to 197 margin. With Democrats putting up a nearly unified front against the measure, GOP lawmakers cleared a bill that would fund the government through Feb. 16.
Eleven Republicans opposed the legislation, while six Democrats supported it.
Some House conservatives earlier Thursday had threatened to oppose the latest in a string of short-term spending bills. By Thursday evening, the conservative House Freedom Caucus said most of its members would back the bill after chair Rep. Mark Meadows reached a deal with GOP leaders, solidifying Republican support.
Meadows also reportedly spoke with Trump about the importance of reaching an agreement before he met with Republican leadership.
The bill’s path in the Senate looks much more perilous. Two Senate Democratic aides told CNBC that Democrats have the votes to block the House bill.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D.-Ill., said the count was ongoing, according to NBC News. “It’s going to be close,” Durbin told NBC News. “We’re asking our members where they stand.”
In recent days, Democrats threatened to oppose another temporary spending bill and decried the lack of movement on a bipartisan package to protect hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants. Earlier Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced her caucus would oppose the bill and called it a “bad idea” and “wrong.”
Trump backs the short-term funding plan. The White House clarified Trump’s support after the president’s morning tweet added confusion to the GOP’s plans to avert a shutdown.
Earlier in the day, both Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan put the burden on Senate Democrats to avoid a government shutdown.
“It’s up to the Democrats” to keep the government running, Trump said.
The Democrats facing the most political peril in the vote are those who face re-election this year in states Trump won, including Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.
If a shutdown occurs, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell intends to keep the Senate in session over the weekend and force those Democrats to face a series of difficult votes, according to Politico and NBC News.
