The House on Thursday passed a stopgap funding bill that would keep the federal government open through Feb. 18, the first step to avoiding a \u2026<\/b>
\nThe House on Thursday passed a stopgap funding bill that would keep the federal government open through Feb.18, the first step to avoiding a shutdown set to occur Friday at midnight. But the bill, which passed 221-212, faces a rocky path through the Senate, where a handful of conservative Republicans have vowed to delay its passage unless they get a standalone vote to strip funding for President Joe Biden\u2019s vaccine mandates. Without a compromise to speed up the process, passing the short-term funding bill could take over a week. \u201cThere are a number of senators,\u201d said Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee on the floor, \u201cwho are not inclined to give consent to expedite a funding measure that supports and funds President Biden\u2019s unconstitutional and sweeping vaccine mandate without holding a vote on that mandate.\u201d In addition to Lee, Republican Sens. Roger Marshall of Kansas and Ted Cruz of Texas have also insisted on a simple majority vote on the issue, pledging to shut down the government without it. \u201cShutting down the government is worth saving the jobs in Kansas,\u201d Marshall told a group of reporters Thursday. (RELATED: Congress Reaches Deal On Stopgap Funding Bill As Shutdown Looms) Democrats, however, have accused the handful of Republicans of launching nothing more than a stunt to prevent people from getting vaccinated that also jeopardized Congress\u2019 ability to perform one of its most fundamental functions. \u201cYet again a double sense of irresponsibility,\u201d House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during her press conference Thursday morning. \u201cFirst of all they shut down the government and then they shut down science.\u201d Democrats also chastised Republicans for what they argued as a lack of good-faith when it came to negotiating a broader funding bill. \u201cWe are here today because my colleagues across the aisle have refused time and time again to begin negotiations or even offer a proposal of their own for government funding that delivers for the American people,\u201d Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said on the floor. \u201cHouse and Senate Democrats have put forward their proposals, but Republicans have not presented an offer of their own.\u201d The short-term funding bill largely continues the current spending levels of the previous fiscal year and the previous stopgap bill that Congress passed to avert a shutdown in late September. It also secured $7 billion to aid Afghan evacuees. Despite the push to delay the bill from some in his own caucus, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the Republican holdouts Thursday morning, warning that a shutdown would do little more than create chaos. \u201cWe are not going to shut the government down,\u201d the Republican leader said. \u201cThat makes no sense for anyone. Almost no one on either side thinks it\u2019s a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n