Nineteen Senate Republicans voted Thursday night to fund the federal government without defunding President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates.
The Senate passed H.R. 6119, a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the federal government through February 18. The CR will keep spending levels at the same levels, although it contains $7 billion for Afghan refugees that some conservatives have criticized for having insufficient checks.
The vote followed a contentious battle over Senate conservatives’ battle to defund Biden’s vaccine mandates. The vote failed after Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) voted against the measure, as the proposal would need at least one Democrat to pass through the Senate.
Several Senate Republicans voted then to continue funding the government even though the CR would not address many of the crises unfolding 12 months into Biden’s administration. This includes soaring inflation, the supply chain crisis, and the border crisis.
These 19 Senate Republicans include:
- Roy Blunt (R-MO)
- Richard Burr (R-NC)
- Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Susan Collins (R-ME)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
- John Kennedy (R-LA)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
- Rob Portman (R-OH)
- Mike Rounds (R-SD)
- Marco Rubio (R-FL)
- Richard Shelby (R-AL)
- Thom Tillis (R-NC)
- Roger Wicker (R-MS)
- Todd Young (R-IN)
The Senate vote on the CR strikes a stark contrast between the House’s CR vote, in which only Republican, the Never Trump Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), voted to continue funding the government.
Rank-and-file Republicans and House Republican leadership alike fought against the CR vote, in contrast to several Senate Republicans who voted in favor of the continuing resolution.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) served as a strong voice for using the prospect of a government shutdown to defund Biden’s vaccine mandates:
House Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) urged his 158-member caucus to vote against the CR, as it would not solve the many crises the country continues to face.
The House Freedom Caucus urged McConnell to “deny timely passage of the CR unless it prohibits —in all respects — for the vaccine mandates.”
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) released a whip notice ahead of the vote, noting the many problems of funding the government without sufficient measures in the bill to solve America’s current problems:
He said:
Further Extending Government Funding Act:
Democrats have been so singularly focused on jamming through their big government tax-and-spend agenda, they have once again failed to address one of the core responsibilities of governing, which is to work with Republicans to fund the government. As a result of Democrats refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations with Republicans, we will consider another short-term continuing resolution that is damaging to our military, fails to address the multiple crises our country is currently facing and is being rushed through at the last minute due to the Democrats’ inability to govern.
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H.R. 6119 continues appropriations at current levels until February 18, 2022, with limited exceptions.
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The legislation also provides $7 billion to assist in the resettlement of Afghan refugees, however, fails to address concerns raised on the last CR related to insufficient documentation during the verification process for Afghan refugees.
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The text of the legislation was not made available for members to review until 8:00 AM this morning, with a vote on final passage expected later this afternoon.
The bill goes to Biden’s desk to sign, although it may not solve the nation’s problems.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.