House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill

The latest round of the funding fights has been resolved. The House passed a bill that funds the government through Nov. 18, with only a conservative bloc of 66 members opposing. The Senate passed the bill last week. The bill includes $2.65 billion for FEMA’s disaster-relief fund, but other agencies, including the Department of Defense, have their budgets cut by 1.5 percent. But more, and more bitter, budget fights are on the horizon: lawmakers are finishing work on 12 spending bills to fund the government for the current fiscal year, including a bill proposed by House Republicans that denies funding to President Obama’s health-care overhaul and his education program.