Government shutdown unlikely after White House backs clean spending bill

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced its support for the latest short-term government funding proposal, greatly reducing the chances of a partial shutdown ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

In a statement from the Office of Management and Budget, the White House applauded the bill for giving Congress “more time to complete full-year funding bills later this year that deliver for America’s national defense, veterans, seniors, children, and working families, and address urgent needs for the American people, including for communities recovering from disaster.”

The statement was far from a ringing endorsement of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s, R-La., proposal. The statement criticized congressional Republicans for not including additional funding for disaster relief, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.

“The Administration is deeply disappointed that congressional Republicans continue to block critical funding requested by the Administration to avoid severe disruptions to several critical Government services, including effectively ceasing operations of the Small Business Administration disaster loan program later this fall,” it said.

The White House also warned that it would oppose any funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service in final appropriations legislation.

The bill — introduced by Johnson on Sunday after his original proposal failed to pass the GOP-controlled House earlier this month — would fund the government through Dec. 20, rather than March 2025. It does not include any part of the SAVE Act, a controversial voter ID bill.

President Joe Biden and many congressional Democrats staunchly opposed plans to include the SAVE Act in the government funding bill. But it was Johnson’s own caucus members who defeated his initial funding measure, when 14 House Republicans voted against it on Sept. 18.

The new proposal appears to defy the wishes of former President Donald Trump, who publicly called on congressional Republicans to shut down the government if the SAVE Act was left out of the funding bill.

The latest bill does include $231 million for the Secret Service, whose funding and resources have been in the spotlight in the wake of two assassination attempts against Trump.

Congress and the White House have until midnight on Sept. 30 to pass the bill and see it signed into law, avoid a partial government shutdown, which would have come just over a month from Election Day.

House Republican aides said Sunday that the funding proposal could reach the House floor for a vote as soon as Wednesday.

“The Administration calls for swift passage of this bill in both chambers of the Congress to avoid a costly, unnecessary government shutdown and to ensure there is adequate time to pass full-year FY 2025 appropriations bills later this year,” the White House statement said.