House Passes 45-Day Government Funding Bill as MAGA Republicans are Defeated

The House of Representatives passed a 45-day stopgap spending bill on Saturday after after Republicans refused to abide by a deal cut with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling over the summer. The vote was 335-91, with 90 Republicans and 1 Democrat (Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) voting against the continuing resolution (CR). The bill will now go to the Senate.

After a tumultuous week, Democrats ultimately saved the day by joining House Republicans for the passage of this so-called "clean" funding bill.

Following the vote, House Democratic Leader Hakeem declared victory, stating "MAGA Republicans have surrendered. All extreme right-wing policies have been removed from the House spending bill. The American people have won."

McCarthy ultimately decided to work with House Democrats, and stripped out radical spending cuts and included key disaster aid in the bill. House Republicans drew the line at funding Ukraine, which did not make it into the 45-day CR.

Shortly after the bill passed, a White House official told CNN, "We fully expect Speaker McCarthy—who has stated his support for funding to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s illegal and unjustified war of aggression—will bring a separate bill to the floor shortly."

McCarthy's struck a noticeable different tone after relying on Democratic votes to fund the government. "It's alright if Republicans and Democrats work together...If somebody wants to make a motion [to vacate] against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room," he said.

Hardline members of the Republican Party were furious after the vote. Republican Congressman Dan Bishop wrote, "I would NEVER vote for a “clean” CR to perpetuate the corruption of federal government spending and debt. But this is even worse, as I will share. HARD NO. HELL NO. Catastrophic failure of leadership."

Matt Gaetz, one of the main antagonists to McCarthy throughout the process, was seen sitting in the back of the chamber alone on his phone.

McCarthy told reporters, "If you have members of your conference that will not let you vote for appropriations bills and will not vote for a stopgap measure so the only option is to shut down and not pay our troops, I don't want to be a part of that team."

With McCarthy turning to House Democrats for help to pass the CR, many are now speculating what it means for McCarthy's future as Speaker. Per an agreement he made to get the job, it takes just one member to file a Motion to Vacate the chair. Many of the hardliners in his caucus feel betrayed by the passage of his bill and have implied that they would consider taking action against the Speaker.

Here is the list of the representatives who voted ‘no’: