WASHINGTON – Through an amendment to the United States Senate’s stopgap spending bill passed the night before, the House of Representatives on Thursday evening approved legislation that will largely fund the federal government, and sets aside billions for the border wall pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The bill provides funding through to early February and provides $5.7 billion for a border wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, a Trump campaign promise, but increases the chances of a partial government shutdown later this week.
Eight Republicans joined all 177 voting Democrats to oppose the measure, which passed 217-185. Now the bill heads to the Senate, where it is expected to fall short of 60 ballots needed for passage as the 49 Democrats are against the wall.
The amendment to the original Senate bill came after Trump said he would not pass stopgap spending to avert a government shutdown unless it contained money for a border wall, angering lawmakers in the Senate, many of who have departed for their home states for the holidays.
The Senate version of the legislation included a total of $1.6 billion for border security but did not include funding specifically for a wall.
Allies of the president advised him to stand strong on the demand for wall money due to the Democratic Party taking the House in January.
“Republicans in Congress have continually told the American people that we would fight for wall funding, and today the House of Representatives took its first step toward fulfilling that promise,” the conservative House Freedom Caucus said in a statement.
“The Senate must follow our lead.”
(c)Breaking911 – Eli Ridder
