- House lawmakers voted to avert a federal government shutdown.
- The $1.2 trillion bill passed the House on a 286 to 134 vote.
- The House needed the bill to pass with at least two-thirds support.
House lawmakers on Friday rushed through a $1.2 trillion bill to avert a partial government shutdown that would occur at midnight, sending the legislation onto the Senate.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had to use a special procedure to bring the legislation to the floor, forcing it to pass with at least two-thirds support. The final vote passed 286 to 134, it needed 280.
It remains to be seen if Congress will actually avert the shutdown. Some Republican senators could throw up roadblocks to the legislation that could drag final passage past midnight.
Despite a potential lapse in funding, lawmakers have a little wiggle room as there are few practical effects to a government shutdown on a weekend when most employees would be off anyway. Once passed, the funding will last through September 30, meaning lawmakers will need at least one more deal this fall to keep the government open through November's election.
Under a plan Johnson engineered last year, the entire government would not shut down. Rather, lawmakers are funding roughly 70 percent of the federal government, per The Washington Post. If a shutdown were to occur, some employees, including TSA screeners, would stay on their jobs without pay.
The overwhelming majority of the bill ($824.4 billion) is devoted to funding the Defense Department.
As for its specific provisions, servicemembers are set to receive a 5.2% pay increase. Outside of defense, there's a $1 billion increase for child care and Head Start programs; a one-year extension for PEPFAR, the US program to combat HIV-AIDS; and a $3.5 billion for a new FBI headquarters.