Nearly $180B funding package passes House after GOP dispute over spending

The House of Representatives passed a federal funding package totaling nearly $180 billion, moving Congress a modest step closer to averting a government shutdown at the end of this month.

The legislation amounts to just over $174 billion aimed at partially or fully funding the Commerce, Justice, Interior and Energy departments, including setting the budget for NASA, the FBI and federal nuclear energy projects.

The bills, which were initially intended to be major legislation, arrived Wednesday after facing opposition from conservative Republicans.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus and others on the GOP’s right wing were particularly outraged by the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill; They felt they were not getting the necessary input on bringing together rank-and-file MPs.

DEMOCRATS’ LAST-MINUTE MOVE TO BLOCK GOP’S FUNDING PLAN SENT LEGISLATORS HOME EARLY

This is one of 12 annual appropriations bills that Congress is charged with passing each fiscal year. Congressional leaders, who negotiated the legislation along bipartisan lines, initially included it in a “van” of three bills; This meant that by the time they passed the House and Senate, half of those dozen bills were complete.

Conservatives also threatened to kill the bill during a procedural vote Wednesday afternoon over its inclusion of a community funding project requested by “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

The bill would give $1,031,000 to Generation Hope’s Justice Strengthening Initiative, which “helps justice-involved Minneapolis residents break the cycle through job training and support,” according to a description of the funding request.

But conservatives argued the fund was just another tool that allowed Minnesota’s Somali community to fraudulently receive taxpayer funds at a time when the state is grappling with a massive fraud scandal engulfing public service programs.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said on

ON JANUARY 30, AS LOCKDOWN FEARS INCREASED, CONGRESS ANNOUNCED A $174 BILLION SPENDING BILL

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., appears at a 2025 congressional hearing. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Community project funding, also known as “earmarks,” are requests from certain lawmakers that allow their districts to directly benefit from Congress’ federal funding bills.

“Earmarks, the currency of corruption, are coming back in full force in these products. And I don’t support that,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters Wednesday morning.

He was among the conservatives with whom House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) deliberated for about a half-hour in the House; because the van was in danger of breaking down, which would allow it to be discussed during a procedural vote.

In the end, House GOP leaders agreed to hold a separate vote on the CJS spending bill and eliminate Omar’s earmark, which was also supported by Minnesota’s two Democratic senators.

“Write one to the good guys,” Roy wrote on

Rep. Ralph Norman, R.S.C., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the final votes of the week on September 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital that he expects “a few of his members” will still vote against this bill specifically.

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The legislation passed on bipartisan lines Thursday, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, celebrated the bill being free of GOP “poison pills” earlier this week.

The funding levels are above what was originally requested by President Donald Trump, but below the threshold that former President Joe Biden expanded fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending levels through another continuing resolution (CR).

The White House also issued a statement of support for the minibus, which will be combined into a single bill before it is sent to the Senate.

Congress has until the end of January 30 to find solutions to the remaining six appropriations bills to prevent a new shutdown.