House passes nearly $180B funding package after conservative rebellion over Minnesota fraud fears

The House of Representatives has passed a federal funding package totaling nearly $180 billion, putting Congress one modest step closer to averting a government shutdown at the end of this month.

The legislation accounts for just over $174 billion aimed at partially or fully funding the departments of Commerce, Justice, Interior and Energy, including laying out the budget for NASA, the FBI and federal nuclear energy projects.

Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly supported the final package of three bills, which passed by a 397-28 vote. Twenty-two Republicans and six Democrats voted against the bill.

It comes after the bills ran into opposition from conservative Republicans on Wednesday.

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Members of the House Freedom Caucus and others on the GOP's right flank were incensed in particular by the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill, which they felt rank-and-file lawmakers did not get proper input on putting together.

It's one of 12 annual appropriations bills that Congress is tasked with passing each fiscal year. Congressional leaders who negotiated the legislation along bipartisan lines originally included it in a three-bill "minibus" that, when passed in the House and Senate, would mean half of those dozen bills are finished.

Conservatives also threatened to kill the bill during a procedural vote on Wednesday afternoon over the inclusion of a community funding project requested by "Squad" member Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

The bill would have given $1,031,000 to Generation Hope's Justice Empowerment Initiative, which "helps justice-involved Minneapolis residents break the cycle through job training and support," according to a description of the funding request.

But conservatives argued that the funding was just another vehicle allowing Minnesota's Somali community to fraudulently take taxpayer funds at a time when the state is grappling with a massive fraud scandal enveloping its public service programs.

"Fraud is running RAMPANT in Minnesota under the failed leadership of Tim Walz. Democrats want to use earmarks to funnel another $1 MILLION to a Somali-led so-called ‘Justice Empowerment Initiative’ that ABUSES taxpayer dollars," Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said on X.

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Community project funding, also known as an "earmark," is a request that specific lawmakers make that allows their districts to directly benefit from Congress' federal funding bills.

"Earmarks, the currency of corruption, they're coming back in full force in these products. And I just don't support it," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters Wednesday morning.

He was among the conservatives who Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., negotiated with on the House floor for nearly half an hour as the minibus was in danger of failing during a procedural vote to allow for it to be debated.

In the end, House GOP leaders agreed to hold a separate vote on the CJS spending bill while also removing Omar's earmark, which was also supported by Minnesota's two Democrat senators.

"Chalk one up for the good guys. Proud to work the last two days to stop the outrageous Ilhan Omar $1 million Somali earmark. Much more to do," Roy posted on X.

The CJS bill was first voted on, followed by the remaining two as a pair, and then a final vote on combining them before sending them to the Senate.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital he still anticipated "a number of" his members will still vote against that bill specifically.

The legislation passed along bipartisan lines Thursday, with top House Appropriations Committee Democrat Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., celebrating that the bill was free of GOP "poison pills" earlier this week.

Its funding levels are above what was originally requested by President Donald Trump but below the threshold extending former President Joe Biden's fiscal year 2024 spending levels via another continuing resolution would have brought.

The White House has also issued a statement of support for the minibus, which will be combined back into one bill before being sent to the Senate.

Congress has until the end of Jan. 30 to find a solution on the remaining six appropriations bills to avert another shutdown.