Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany again votes to let the federal government shut down

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 339-85 on March 6 for a bipartisan compromise spending package that will avert a partial federal government shutdown and boost spending on food programs for low-income families and services for veterans. As he has done repeatedly in the past year, Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany voted against keeping the government running.

“I will vote NO on the minibus (part 1) today,” he tweeted. “605 pages of earmarks, drafted behind closed doors, releases more illegal aliens, and includes higher spending levels than Pelosi. Americans are depending on us to end the Swamp’s status quo. House Republicans must hold the line.”

Congress was supposed to pass 12 appropriations bills by the end of September 2023, but failed to do so amid House GOP infighting and disarray. Instead, lawmakers have approved a series of four stopgap bills to allow the federal government to keep operating temporarily since that time.

Tiffany voted against three of those continuing resolutions. 

The so-called minibus package of bills will provide funding for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs, as well as some other agencies and military construction programs. 

The bill now heads to the Senate, where action is expected before those agencies run out of money on March 9.

In the past, government shutdowns have proven damaging to the U.S. economy, reducing its gross domestic product by billions of dollars. While core government functions can continue during a shutdown, no federal employees can receive pay, and programs such as food safety inspections, the processing of new Social Security claims, and veterans’ services grind to a halt.

Still, some House Republicans and former President Donald Trump have embraced letting the government shut down. 

Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Good, the current chair of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, told his GOP colleagues on Feb. 5 that they should shut the government down in September, ahead of the November election, to stop Democrats from achieving any additional policy victories that might affect the outcome, according to the website Punchbowl News. 

Last July, Good told reporters: “We should not fear a government shutdown. Most of what we do up here is bad anyway. Most of what we do up here hurts the American people.”