Rebuking the left, White House endorses Republican funding bill

Despite objections on everything from weakening Wall Street regulations to loosening campaign-finance laws, the White House is pushing for passage of a short-term Republican government funding measure.

In a dramatic vote earlier Thursday, the funding bill passed the House by the narrowest of margins, 214-212. The Obama administration move puts the president at odds with the left, especially Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was the president’s pick to help him set up the Consumer Financial Protection Board.

“We have just to stand up and say no,” Warren thundered Wednesday, rallying opposition against the bill. “We want every single person in the House of Representatives to stop and think, ‘Do I want to vote for something that is reckless, that puts our economy in danger? And who does it help? It helps a handful of the largest financial institutions in this country.’ Make no mistake, this is about money.”

On Thursday, Warren warned the bill would increase the chance of future Wall Street bailouts.

“Who do you work for — Wall Street or the American people?” Warren asked of her colleagues on the Senate floor.

Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., took the the House floor shortly afterward and said she is “enormously disappointed” the White House is going along with the bill.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest at a White House briefing called the $1 trillion bill “a compromise” and said the president would sign it, because it would “provide certainty to our economy.”

The White House’s “Statement of Administration Policy” praised the legislation for funding most of the government for a year and providing funding to fight Ebola, the Islamic State militant group, and initiatives on education, manufacturing and trade.

But the statement was remarkable in that it spent two of the four paragraphs blasting the legislation:

“The Administration objects to the inclusion of ideological and special interest riders in the House bill. In particular, the Administration is opposed to the inclusion of a rider that would amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and weaken a critical component of financial system reform aimed at reducing taxpayer risk. Additionally, the Administration is opposed to inclusion of a rider that would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to allow individual donors to contribute to national political party committee accounts for conventions, buildings and recounts in amounts that are dramatically higher than what the law currently permits.

“Furthermore, the Administration is disappointed that the bill would fund the Department of Homeland Security through February 27, 2015, at last year’s levels. Short-term continuing resolution funding measures are disruptive, create uncertainty, and impede efficient resource planning and execution.”

Despite all that, the White House urged its passage.

PBS NewsHour’s Lisa Desjardins contributed to this report.