US House of Representatives Rejects Stopgap Measure

Posted September 21st, 2011 at 8:10 pm (UTC-5)
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The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has defeated a bill that would have funded federal government operations past September 30, when current funding is set to expire.

The measure failed Wednesday by a vote of 195 in favor to 230 against, with 48 Republican members rebelling against their leaders and voting against it. The stopgap measure would have funded the government through November 18.

Leading Republicans in the House called for passage of the temporary measure. They said it is in line with cuts to government spending agreed on by both houses of Congress and President Barack Obama to avert a default on the nation’s debt in early August.

But some Republican lawmakers, mostly supporters of the Tea Party movement, wanted deeper cuts to government spending than those agreed upon during the showdown last month over raising the debt ceiling.

One-hundred-89 Democrats voted against the temporary measure, angered by a provision that said federal funding for disaster relief must be offset by cuts in government spending elsewhere. Several Democrats listed a number of major disasters that have affected the United States in recent weeks, including raging wildfires in Texas, a hurricane, and tropical storms that triggered widespread flooding along the U.S. East Coast.

Lawmakers from both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in recess next week. If Congress does not pass a temporary spending bill by September 30, there will be a partial shutdown of the U.S. government.