House Passes Funding Bill with Pay Raise
On Thursday night, the House passed a funding bill to open all agencies, funding them through September with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security which is funded through February 8th to allow for continuing discussions on border security.
Also included in the House package was a repeal of the Holman Rule (the arcane rule that allows congress to single out a single government worker or a group of workers and zero out their salary), a 1.9% pay raise to override Trump’s pay freeze, and a provision to provide back pay for furloughed workers. Seven Republicans joined all of the House Democrats in supporting the funding package: Reps. Will Hurd (Texas), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Peter King (N.Y.), Greg Walden (Ore.) and John Katko (N.Y.).
While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is resisting the call to bring any bill to the floor of the Senate that does not have border wall funding, pressure is growing from GOP senate rank and file to get a funding bill passed, with or without wall funds.