The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the final set of outstanding government funding bills as a partial federal government shutdown looms on Jan. 30.
The four bills account for the largest chunk of government spending, about $1.2 trillion in total. They would fund the departments of Defense; Health and Human Services; Homeland Security; Labor; Housing and Urban Development; Transportation; and Education.
The Homeland Security bill passed 220-207, while the other three cleared 341-88 as part of a package known as a "minibus."
The bills represent the final quartet of 12 annual appropriations bills required to fund the government and avoid a partial shutdown on Jan. 30. The Senate still needs to approve them, along with two other House-passed funding bills, before they head to President Donald Trump's desk for a signature.
The Senate does not return until next week, and a winter storm closing in on Washington over the weekend threatens to complicate those plans.
House lawmakers were widely expected to pass the bills on Thursday, with lawmakers desperate to avoid another shutdown after enduring a record 43-day shutdown last year.
Despite bipartisan accord on avoiding another shutdown, some of the bills still face serious hurdles in the Senate.
Democrats have warned they will not support a bill to fund the Homeland Security Department after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent fatally shot a U.S. citizen in Minnesota earlier this month. The Homeland bill was being considered separately from the other three bills in the House due to the political peril.
Meanwhile, Republicans from the Midwest demanded a provision be added to the spending package to allow year-round sale of gasoline with a heavy mix of ethanol, known as E15. The fuel is currently restricted in the summer months due to smog concerns, though that restriction is frequently waived.
House Republican leadership agreed to create a congressional "E-15 Rural Domestic Energy Council" instead to assuage those Republicans.
Trump told Fox Business on Thursday that he "think[s] we're going to probably end up in another Democrat shutdown," but did not specify whether he was referring to the deadline at the end of this month.
