The House just cleared a huge hurdle to avoid government shutdown - for now
- The House passed a bill to extend government funding by a vote of 235 to 193.
- The bill will move the shutdown deadline back two weeks - from Friday night to December 22.
- Now, the Senate must pass the bill and Trump must sign it before the deadline.
The House voted Thursday to pass a bill that would extend government funding by two weeks, clearing a hurdle to avoid a partial government shutdown on Friday.
The bill passed 235 to 193, the bill would extend government funding through December 22.
There was some concern that it could fail after members of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus made demands for the spending bill, including extending the short-term deadline to December 30 and increased defense spending.
Leaders of the Freedom Caucus met with House Speaker Paul Ryan repeatedly over the past three days to come to an agreement. Rep. Mark Meadows, the chair of the Freedom Caucus, ended up voting for the bill along with many of the members.
The Senate is expected to pass the House bill.
If the Senate is able to get the two-week extension through the chamber, then the real fight will begins as each party will attempt to include legislative priorities in the next funding bill.
Democrats are pushing for a codification of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigrant program and an Obamacare stabilization measure. Republicans want to include funding for border security and a large increase in military spending.