Congress averts government shutdown with short-term funding package amid GOP infighting

The House of Representatives passed a short-term measure to keep the federal government's coffers full after weeks of Republican infighting over the funding bill's details. 

The dramatic process forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to walk a political tightrope after former President Donald Trump interjected in the congressional process.

Johnson last week attempted to pass the same funding bill with an illegal immigrant voting reform law attached, a special interest of Trump's, but it failed after Republicans and Democrats voted against it. 

So Johnson cut the wishlist item and put the bill back up for a vote Wednesday where it passed 341 - 82 with bipartisan support. 

The bill, which funds the government through December 20, also includes measures to boost the Secret Service's budget by millions in the wake of two recent Donald Trump assassination attempts.

But just hours before the vote Wednesday, Trump and his team tried to drum up support for the funding and voting law combination once more, The Hill first reported, signaling how the ex-president tried to kill the deal at the last minute. 

It's reported that Trump himself called several of the 14 House Republicans that previously voted against his preferred bill last week.

Many of those who did vote against the funding package and SAVE Act - which would require proof of citizenship for those registering to vote - did not vote against the deal because of the conservative law. 

Many were opposed to the levels of funding approved. 

The ex-president reportedly wanted an addition of language to the funding bill Wednesday that could include restrictions similar to the SAVE Act, The Hill reported. 

But the package passed without it on Wednesday. It was one of the final votes the House will take until after the November election, giving them time to get to their districts to campaign.

Members, especially those in tight reelection races, are eager to get home to make their case to voters. 

Now the measure heads to the Senate where it is expected to similarly receive bipartisan support and pass through the upper-chamber this evening. 

This will enable the senators to also skip town to campaign. 

The funding process grew turbulent earlier this month when Trump posted on his Truth Social app that Johnson should risk a government shutdown over the attachment of the SAVE Act.

The Republican reasoning was that vulnerable Democrats would side with them on a bill that further restricts illegal immigrants from voting in federal elections - something they continuously said was supported by 90 percent of Americans. 

Johnson's Trump-inspired gambit failed though after 14 Republicans voted against the measure including almost all the Democrats.