The Senate has passed a House amendment to extend the current continuing resolution to Dec. 20, voting the day the current CR was scheduled to expire.
The bill was passed by a vote of 74-20, with all of the votes against it coming from Republicans. Nine GOP members of the Senate Armed Services Committee voted against the bill, including Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), as well as Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
The bill would keep funding constant at fiscal year 2019 levels for one more month, while allowing for a handful of exemptions including a 3.1 percent pay raise for the military. The House passed their amendment to H.R. 3055 by a vote of 231-192, with 12 Republicans voting to support the bill, and 10 Democrats voting against the bill.
Two sources on the Hill confirmed that outstanding fiscal year 2020 spending bills – to include those that fund the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Energy and Water – remain caught up in a battle between the White House and congressional Democrats regarding President Trump’s desired U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The White House has requested $8.6 billion in new funding for the wall and to backfill $3.6 billion in military construction funds that have already been taken for border barrier construction.