All but three federal lawmakers from Ohio — all Republicans — voted Saturday to avoid a government shutdown.
Instead of a longer-term budget bill, the continuing resolution approved by the U.S. House and Senate will keep federal funds flowing to Ohio through Nov. 16 when the 45-day stopgap measure tees up another round of high-stakes negotiations ahead of Thanksgiving.
The Continuing Appropriations Act, or House Resolution 5860, passed 335-91 in the House, where seven representatives did not vote. (U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois was the only Democrat to join the 90 Republicans who voted no in the lower chamber.)
In the U.S. Senate, 88 bipartisan votes carried the resolution with two members not voting and nine Republicans, including Ohio’s J.D. Vance, voting no. (Sen. Diane Feinstein, who died Thursday, would have been the 100th vote.)
Hardline conservatives, including Vance and Reps. Jim Jordan (whose 4th congressional district includes Ashland County) and Warren Davidson in Ohio, pushed for steep budget cuts and accused Democrats of holding the government hostage over demands for Ukraine support.
When nearly every Democrat joined moderate Republicans to pass a “clean” continuing resolution without the aid for Ukraine, Vance pivoted from that line of attack, trying instead to cast opposition to Russia as an extension of Democrats’ concerns about the Kremlin’s tampering in the 2016 election.
Northeast Ohio lawmakers and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who devised a plan to keep federal food assistance and other programs rolling in the event of a government shutdown, urged Congress to cut a bipartisan deal as embattled Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California inched toward the 11th hour agreement that’s riled far-right members of his party, including some now looking to oust him from his leadership position.
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U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, an Akron Democrat whose 13th congressional district covers Summit County and part of Stark, called the political brinksmanship over a possible shutdown an “extremist manufactured crisis” that would have forced “our troops and law enforcement to work without pay, cut small businesses off from support they need and make it harder for families to put food on their tables.”
Sykes warned that 40 million Americans receiving relief from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could go hungry in December if the 45-day continuing resolution to fund the government lapses without a plan or if legislation she has proposed does not pass.
“The holiday season should be when Americans take stock of the blessings in our lives, not struggle to make ends meet. We must immediately pass my Feed Our Families Act so no family has to worry about going hungry because of Congress’ failure to fund SNAP,” Rep. Sykes said in a statement.
From the beginning of this extremist manufactured crisis, I promised to work with anyone — Republican or Democrat — to avoid a government shutdown. That’s why I voted in favor of today’s bill that would temporarily fund our government.https://t.co/RIm5R1DZ65
— Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes (@RepEmiliaSykes) September 30, 2023
Rep. Dave Joyce, a Bainbridge Republican whose district covering the northeastern counties of Ohio includes Portage, continued to hammer President Joe Biden, as he had in the days leading up to Saturday’s vote, on border security.
“The funding in this [continuing resolution] bill to build the wall, increase the number of Border Patrol agents and bolster border technology forces the Biden Administration to finally address the border security crisis,” Joyce, who chairs the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, said of his vote in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, praised Congress for coming together to avoid a shutdown. He pushed colleagues to take up a separate bill on Ukraine war aid, which the White House said will be coming.
“While passing this package was necessary to avoid a shutdown, it should have included critical support for Ukraine as they fight back against Putin’s invasion,” Brown said after the U.S. Senate voted to approve the funding compromise from the U.S. House. “I am calling on Senate leadership and the White House to immediately move to provide support for Ukraine.”
Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: All but 3 Ohio lawmakers voted to fund the federal government