Gary Palmer votes against spending package

On Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approved a “minibus” package of six spending bills. The House passed the bills with time running out to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend. The measure was approved 339 to 85. 207 Democrats and 132 Republicans voted for the 1050-page package. Congressman Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) released a statement after voting against the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.

“Voting on two different days does not change the fact that Congress is considering the first half of an omnibus bill,” said Rep. Palmer. “Congress has repeatedly ignored the debt crisis, the immigration crisis, and a host of other problems in exchange for temporary funding bills. Now, we are given a set of appropriation bills negotiated by only a handful of members. These bills lack important policy changes and are devoid of necessary constraints on spending at a time when our national debt is over $34 trillion. I made a commitment to vote for sound policy and to reduce wasteful government spending. Unfortunately, this bill misses the mark. We must change the process and commit to doing the hard work to get appropriations done and avoid forced votes on bad bills.”

The successful vote means the House is halfway done with the appropriations process for fiscal year 2024, which started back on October 1.

Getting a budget passed that both the House and the Democratic controlled Senate and the Biden administration will support during an election year has been a challenge for Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana).

This vote was the day after Palmer defeated both of his Republican challengers: Gerrick Wilkins and Ken McFeeters in the Alabama Republican Primary. Palmer received 83.25% of the vote (76,063) in a landslide win. Wilkins received 10.55% (9,636), and McFeeters 6.20% (5,668). Palmer will still have to face Democratic nominee Elizabeth Anderson in the November 5 general election.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has promised to bring the bill up for a vote of Senate this week ahead of the deadline.

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