House Moves Step Closer to Approving CR
House Republicans today overcame their own party’s reservations about a stopgap funding measure, passing a procedural motion to move the bill closer to final passage this afternoon.
The chamber voted 238-185 on the rule for the continuing resolution after Republicans whipped their Members to vote with leadership in favor of it. More than 50 conservative Republicans blasted the bill’s price tag, while scores of Democrats on the opposite end of the spectrum complained it did not include enough disaster aid and that the bill offset the cost of that aid by cutting funds to a popular alternative-vehicle research program.
The measure is now poised to win final approval later today and head to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has pledged to add more disaster funding to help those states affected by recent natural disaster such as Hurricane Irene.