The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would fund the
District of Columbia's government as it sought to force the Senate into
accepting a piecemeal approach to reopening the government.
Members
passed the resolution, H.J.Res. 71, in a surprise voice vote after a
debate in which Democrats said they would oppose all piecemeal spending
bills from Republicans.
Several Democrats said that plan
allows Republicans to pick and choose which portions of the government
to spare from the shutdown when Congress should be ending the shutdown
for all.
The vote came after the House failed to approve the
same resolution under a suspension of House rules on Tuesday. That
required a two-thirds vote, and it failed 265-163, even though 34
Democrats supported it.
Tuesday's voice vote allowed Democrats to avoid a formal vote that would
have forced them to choose between supporting the District or opposing
Republicans.
Republicans said they were surprised so many
Democrats voted against the bill, since the legislation is meant to give
the District of Columbia access to funds that it has raised on its own.
The District must have its budget approved by Congress, even though it
raises its own money and does not rely on other appropriations.
"I
don't understand why so many of our friends on the other side of the
aisle voted 'no' yesterday, because all it does is allow the District of
Columbia to spend its own money," Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) said.
As
they did last night, Democrats said that while they support funding for
the District, they cannot accept the GOP strategy of passing small
spending bills. Anger over the GOP plan led Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.)
to say he has never seen the House in such disarray.
"I've never
seen such small-minded, miserable behavior in this House of
Representatives, and such a disregard of our responsibilities to the
people," he said. "The American people could get better government out
of monkey island in the local zoo than we're getting … today."
Del.
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) again called on her colleagues to
support the legislation, and said the District should not be caught up
in the fight over federal spending.
"If the game plan is to keep
this going until the debt ceiling, in the middle of the month, please
don't," she said. "Each day that without an agreement is punishing
millions of Americans and every single DC resident."
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