House clears bipartisan 6-bill spending package

By Andres Picon | 03/06/2024 04:33 PM EST

The Senate must pass the package, which funds most energy and environment programs, before Saturday to avoid a partial shutdown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other Republicans.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is seen alongside other House Republicans as he departs a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Francis Chung/POLITICO

The House approved a bipartisan package of six final fiscal 2024 spending bills Wednesday that would bolster the Department of Energy while slashing budgets at EPA and the Department of the Interior.

After months of acrimony and delays, Democrats and Republicans ultimately teamed up to send the $459 billion minibus to the Senate on a 339-85 roll call. Wednesday’s passage cleared what was expected to be the biggest hurdle in averting a partial government shutdown this weekend.

The bill’s funding allocations could have far-reaching impacts on the Biden administration’s energy and environment programs. It proposes an increase to DOE by $1.8 billion above current levels while cutting EPA by nearly $1 billion and reducing funding for a range of Interior bureaus.

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House passage comes one day before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and two days before the scheduled release of the president’s fiscal 2025 budget proposal.

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