House votes to avert government shutdown over opposition of most Texas Republicans

WASHINGTON — Two-thirds of Texas Republicans in the U.S. House opposed a stopgap measure to stave off a government shutdown for 45 days, defying Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose last-minute proposal passed Saturday thanks to overwhelming Democratic support.

The House sent the measure to the Senate on a 335-91 vote just hours ahead of a midnight lapse in funding with support from nearly every Democrat and a majority of Republicans — though only eight of the 25 from Texas.

Conservatives were disappointed, having pushed for sharp spending cuts and border security measures.

The Senate voted 88-9 to approve the bill, known as a “continuing resolution,” with just a few hours to spare Saturday night. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas voted for it. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, voted against it.

“No one wants a government shutdown,” Cruz said in a statement.

He cited his support for legislation that would automatically trigger a continuing resolution to keep the government open when Congress fails to act, albeit with automatic reductions in spending.

“However, Democrats are opposed to spending cuts, or spending limits of any kind, even their own spending limit that they agreed to less than four months ago,” Cruz said. “This continuing resolution does nothing to address the acute crisis at the Texas-Mexico border, itself created by deliberate Democrat policies.”

After failing repeatedly to unite his conference behind a more conservative stopgap measure, McCarthy, R-Calif., brought Saturday’s version to the floor.

All Texas Democrats backed the 45-day stopgap, which featured disaster relief funding but lacked billions in Ukraine aid Democrats had sought.

“I voted for this bipartisan compromise bill to ensure that our service members, CBP [Customs and Border Protection] agents and other federal employees are not forced to go without a paycheck because of cynical partisan politics,” Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, said in a statement.

Allred is running for Cruz’s seat next year.

“While this legislation doesn’t include everything I hoped for, like increased resources to help our border communities deal with the current surge, a government shutdown and the impact it would have on families, small businesses and our safety is never an acceptable option,” Allred said.

Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, wrote on X that Congress’ most important job is keeping the government up and running.

“While this isn’t a perfect deal or a permanent solution, I voted yes today to avoid a shutdown, protect our economy, and keep delivering results for my constituents,” Veasey wrote.

Of the 25 Texas Republicans in the House, just eight supported Saturday’s bill: Reps. Jodey Arrington of Lubbock, Michael Burgess of Pilot Point, Dan Crenshaw of Humble, Monica De La Cruz of McAllen, Jake Ellzey of Midlothian, Kay Granger of Fort Worth, Michael McCaul of Austin and Pete Sessions of Waco.

Rep. John Carter of Round Rock did not vote.

De La Cruz said GOP leaders had offered assurance the border security demands would be addressed soon in another bill.

Sessions said he “voted today to keep the government open and avert a costly shutdown.”

“I remain determined to reduce top-line spending, restore the rule of law at the border, strengthen our national defense, and defund the Biden administration’s harmful agenda,” he said.

The other 16 Texas Republicans voted against the bill: Reps. Van Duyne, Brian Babin of Woodville, Keith Self of McKinney, Lance Gooden of Terrell, Pat Fallon of Sherman, Michael Cloud of Victoria, August Pfluger of San Angelo, Chip Roy of Austin, Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, Randy Weber of Friendswood, Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, Wesley Hunt of Houston, Troy Nehls of Richmond, Nathaniel Moran of Tyler, Morgan Luttrell of Magnolia and Roger Williams of Willow Park.

Williams said he opposed Saturday’s measure because it lacked extra border security funds.

“We cannot continue to ignore that our nation is under invasion at our southern border,” he wrote on X. “Americans are paying the price.”

A day earlier, Self, Cloud, Hunt and Nehls had helped sink their own party leadership’s proposed continuing resolution that included GOP border security proposals and significant spending cuts.

Their tactic resulted in the speaker pushing through Saturday’s bill without the border provisions and spending cuts, but Self expressed no regrets.

He denounced any continuing resolution as the kind of “business as usual” that Americans are tired of seeing from Washington and suggested Republicans need to do more in their individual spending bills.

“We are basically nibbling at the margins,” Self said.