An eleventh-hour Congressional vote to avert a shutdown of the federal government passed with rare bipartisan support Saturday afternoon. The vote among Alabama’s seven-member congressional delegation also reflected the national bipartisan consensus to keep the government open.
Four of Alabama’s members of the House of Representatives voted yes to the resolution while three others voted no. Voting yes were Reps. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile, Mike Rogers, R- Saks, Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, and Terri A. Sewell D-Birmingham.
On the no side were Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, and Gary Palmer, R-Hoover.
Today’s vote continues government operation for another for 45 days.
Aderholt, considered the dean of the Alabama delegation, said on social media that he did not favor a shutdown, but voted against the proposal because it did not address another pressing issue.
“While I do not want the government to shutdown, I had to vote against this Continuing Resolution Saturday,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “It does not provide the overall cuts I feel we need and does not address the crisis at our southern border.”
Sewell, of Birmingham is the sole Democrat in the delegation. In statement this afternoon, she reluctantly offered praise for Republican House leadership for shepherding the vote to preserve government functions and salaries for the federal employees that conduct them.
“While I remain frustrated that my Republican colleagues have brought us to the brink of a costly and devastating government shutdown, I am grateful that Speaker McCarthy has finally chosen to work with Democrats at the last minute to extend government funding,” she said. “While this measure is not perfect, it avoids deep cuts that House Republicans attempted to push through earlier this week and provides critical disaster relief funding that communities in Alabama depend on.”
On the other side of the aisle, Carl, a Mobile Republican, said his yes vote was an effort to continue operations while work continued to press for Republican priorities.
“Today, I voted to keep our service members paid, fund our border patrol, and keep our country moving forward,” Carl posted on X. “@HouseGOP is continuing the work to cut back on wasteful spending, stop the woke agenda, and secure our border.”