A second Continuing Resolution spending bill backed by President-elect Donald Trump and introduced and voted upon in the House of Representatives to prevent a government shutdown has failed by a vote count of 174-235. The legislative measure, met the fate of its 1,500-page predecessor, the American Relief Act.
Fox News reported that the new bill, at just 116 pages, was much leaner than its predecessor but would similarly fund the government through March 14, 2025, and suspend the debt limit, was President Trump was hoping for.
Some of the key points within the spending package included disaster relief for Hurricanes Helene and Milton and funds to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland.
Even before the bill was made public, it faced opposition from members on both sides of the aisle, with Democrats supposedly chanting "hell no" in their closed-door conference discussing it.
Similarly, Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) described the bill on X (formerly Twitter) as, "Old bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $0 increase in the national credit card. New bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $4 TRILLION+ debt ceiling increase with $0 in structural reforms for cuts. Time to read the bill: 1.5 hours. I will vote no."
Six other Texas Representatives, including Mike Cloud (R-TX), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Keith Self (R-TX), and Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), voted with Rep. Roy against the bill.
In Florida, nearly all Republicans except Representatives Cory Mills (R-FL), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Bill Posey (R-FL), and Kat Cammack (R-FL) voted for the bill, with Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) not voting.
Ironically, Rep. Bean had expressed optimism about bringing forth and passing a "clean" continuing resolution earlier Thursday morning on Fox Business, saying, "Let's just focus on getting the government funded, the bare essentials of what is funded now without any crazy changes. We saw many crazy changes [and] it was anything but a clean CR, what was presented yesterday."
Meanwhile, in Arizona, the situation was reversed. Representative Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) was the sole "yea" vote for the spending bill, with Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), David Schweikert (R-AZ), and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), all voting against it.
