House Passes Stop-Gap Bill Funding Government Through February

The House passed on Thursday a stop-gap spending measure to fund the government through February as Republicans fight to defund President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.

The House passed H.R. 6119, a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government at the same spending levels through February 18.

The measure passed 221-212, with strong Democrat support for the resolution for the bill, and with only one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), voting for the bill.

The strong Republican support against the CR comes as the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the Republican Study Committee (RSC), and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) have urged Republicans to oppose the legislation.

Banks released a statement Monday urging his caucus to oppose the legislation, as it does not fix the many crises unfolding 12 months into Biden’s administration. He explained:

The border crisis, the inflation crisis, the supply chain crisis and the government debt crisis—each of the crises facing our nation today can be traced back to specific policies pursued by Democrats. We can’t give Biden a green light to continue on this destructive path.

The House Freedom Caucus issued a statement Wednesday calling on McConnell to “deny timely passage of the CR unless it prohibits —in all respects — for the vaccine mandates.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has also urged House Republicans to oppose the CR as part of an effort to defund the vaccine mandate:

“The issue is a Congress that is supposed to use the power of the purse”

“We have a moral obligation to give voice and representation to the people who elected us, whose liberty and livelihoods are being attacked”#DefundVaxMandates #DefundTheMandates pic.twitter.com/KYjjAOTriM

— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) December 2, 2021

Scalise released a whip notice Thursday, urging Republicans to oppose the legislation. He noted that the bill would not fix the Biden crises. He said:

Further Extending Government Funding Act:
Democrats have been so singularly focused on jamming through their big government tax-and-spend agenda, they have once again failed to address one of the core responsibilities of governing, which is to work with Republicans to fund the government. As a result of Democrats refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations with Republicans, we will consider another short-term continuing resolution that is damaging to our military, fails to address the multiple crises our country is currently facing and is being rushed through at the last minute due to the Democrats’ inability to govern.

• H.R. 6119 continues appropriations at current levels until February 18, 2022, with limited exceptions.

• The legislation also provides $7 billion to assist in the resettlement of Afghan refugees, however, fails to address concerns raised on the last CR related to insufficient documentation during the verification process for Afghan refugees.

• The text of the legislation was not made available for members to review until 8:00 AM this morning, with a vote on final passage expected later this afternoon.

The bill goes to the Senate, where it facees an uncertain fate. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and other Senate Republicans have demanded a vote on an amendment to the CR defunding the vaccine mandate in exchange for their support for the vote. If they do not get an amendment to the CR, there might be a government shutdown.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.