Members of the U.S. House and Senate have departed Washington, not to return until after the elections in November.
Before they left, both chambers passed a stopgap funding bill that keeps the government funded through December, averting a shutdown that would have begun on October 1. The stopgap bill, which temporarily funds the government through December 20, emerged as a compromise after an earlier Republican-led attempt to tie government funding to a bill related to citizenship requirements for registered voters failed in the House.
The vote was 341-82 in the House and 78-18 in the Senate, with every nay coming from a Republican. President Joe Biden is likely to sign the bill shortly.
Within the New Jersey delegation, support for the bill was near-unanimous: 12 of the state’s 13 representatives and senators supported the bill (including brand-new Rep. LaMonica McIver in her first major House vote), with the lone exception being Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis). Van Drew, who frequently withholds his vote on government funding bills because they don’t include steep enough spending cuts, joined 99 other Republicans nationwide in opposing the bill.
Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), who voted for the stopgap bill, said that he was happy to keep the government running but that he was frustrated with House Speaker Mike Johnson for trying to use the funding process for political aims.
“New Jersey deserves a reliable government that’s working for them. Instead, Speaker Johnson has spent his time picking partisan fights rather than trying to find common ground to deliver on everyday needs,” he said in a statement. “I voted for this resolution to make sure New Jerseyans don’t lose out on the services they depend on every day, and will continue to press for a funding bill that puts working families first.”
Interim Senator George Helmy, for whom the stopgap funding bill will likely be the most important vote he takes before departing the Senate in November, said that he was happy Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed the bill through quickly and averted any worries of a shutdown.
“A government shutdown would have had catastrophic consequences for our military veterans, our seniors, and some of our nation’s most vulnerable communities who rely on the federal government for their daily needs,” Helmy said in a statement. “By passing this CR, we are able to maintain a number of crucial investments that are vital for constituents in my home state of New Jersey and American families.”
With this critical bill now in the rearview mirror, Congress is done with its pre-election work; those in competitive races (New Jersey’s Rep. Tom Kean Jr. among them) now get to go home to campaign for re-election. By the time they come back in November for the next wave of legislative battles, including debates over a long-term appropriations package, they’ll know the results of the November election – and who will and won’t be returning come January 2025.