Stopgap spending bill OK’d; government open — for now

By Mike Andrew Taylor Associated Press • Thursday October 1, 2015 6:40 AM

WASHINGTON — Just hours before a midnight deadline, a bitterly divided Congress approved a stopgap spending bill on Wednesday to keep the federal government open — but with no assurance there won't be yet another shutdown showdown in December.

Democrats helped House Republican leaders pass the measure 277-151 — a lopsided vote shrouding deep disagreements within the GOP — after the Senate approved it by a 78-20 tally. The votes sent the bill to President Barack Obama, but not without White House carping.

"The American people deserve far better than last-minute, short-term legislating," said spokesman Josh Earnest in pressing for a broader, longer-lasting budget deal.

Among Ohio lawmakers, Republicans Pat Tiberi of Genoa Township, Steve Stivers of Upper Arlington, Bill Johnson of Marietta and Mike Turner of Dayton joined Democrat Joyce Beatty of Jefferson Township in voting to keep the government open.

Beatty said, "I am disappointed that in just 71 days we will encounter another funding deadline. It is time for Congress to do its job."

Republicans Jim Jordan of Urbana and Bob Gibbs of Lakeville voted against the temporary spending measure.

In the Senate, Ohioans Rob Portman, a Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, both voted for the bill.

Approval of such stopgap measures used to be routine, but debate this year exposed acrimonious divisions between pragmatic Republicans such as House Speaker John Boehner and more junior lawmakers in the party's tea party wing who are less inclined to compromise.

The tea partyers had demanded that the must-pass measure be used to punish Planned Parenthood, stripping it of federal money because of its practice of supplying tissue from aborted fetuses for scientific research. That's legal under federal law, but taking payment for it would not be.

House Republicans opposed the spending bill by a clear margin; Democratic support was unanimous.

The legislation finances the government through Dec. 11, providing 10 weeks to negotiate a more wide-ranging budget deal.

Support from Democrats also helped power the measure through the Senate, all of the opposition coming from conservative Republicans.

Longtime lawmakers bemoaned the collapse of the annual appropriations process, which is supposed to be wrapped up by now. Democrats demanding a new budget deal have blocked work in the Senate, while a fight over the Confederate flag halted work in the House.

Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief Jack Torry contributed to this story.