House Approves Stopgap Govt. Funding Measure

(Newsroom America) -- The House on Friday narrowly approved a stopgap spending measure that would permit the government to continue operating until Nov. 18, but it faces an uncertain future in the Senate where majority Democratic leaders are threatening to block it over a separate issue.

House majority Republican leaders managed to cobble together enough votes from a number of conservative lawmakers who, just a day earlier, rejected a similar measure to pass Friday's bill 219-203.

That said, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada threatened to block it, saying it was a poor attempt at "compromise."

"The bill the House will vote on tonight is not an honest effort at compromise," Reid said. "It fails to provide the relief that our fellow Americans need as they struggle to rebuild their lives in the wake of floods, wildfires and hurricanes, and it will be rejected by the Senate."

Reid and other Senate Democrats are in a dispute with Republicans over federal disaster aid. Democrats oppose the House bill because it partially offsets $3.65 billion in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with a $1.5 billion cut to a separate Department of Energy manufacturing loan program, The Hill newspaper reported.

"I was optimistic that my House Republican colleagues would learn from their failure yesterday and move towards the middle," Reid said. "Instead, they moved even further towards the Tea Party."

Reid said the Senate was prepared to remain in session next week to ensure a bill gets passed, canceling a scheduled recess.

For his part, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who managed to put together enough support to get the bill through his chamber a day after it failed, said he wanted the issue resolved so Congress could focus on the economy.

"I urge the Senate to quickly pass this bill so we can send it to the president and keep our focus on the American people’s top priority: jobs," Boehner said. "This common-sense measure cuts spending for the second year in a row and protects our struggling economy from the uncertainty of a government shutdown."

© 2011 Newsroom America.

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