WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate approved a bipartisan federal spending bill early Saturday, averting a government shutdown and ending a week of chaos and high-stakes Congress.
The bill would authorize the federal government to continue funding at current levels for three months and provide additional disaster relief and agricultural assistance.
The House approved the bill Friday night by a vote of 366-34, with support from all Democrats and more than three-quarters of Republicans.
The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 85 to 11 just after midnight. Ten of the no votes came from Republicans, and one from Sen. Bernie Sanders, R-Vt., who caucuses with Democrats.
Massive support for the stopgap funding bill reflects a desire by both parties to avoid a costly shutdown that could jeopardize the paychecks of hundreds of thousands of federal workers just days before Christmas. There is.
President Joe Biden plans to sign the final bill into law on Saturday, the White House said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Friday that “while it does not include everything we asked for…President Biden supports moving this bill forward.”
The dramatic House and Senate votes ended days of chaos at the Capitol during which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) tried unsuccessfully to meet President-elect Donald Trump’s demands. .
Trump and his billionaire campaign donor Elon Musk tesla The CEO doomed the initial negotiating funding plan by harshly criticizing the provision on Wednesday, and Republicans spent much of Thursday scrambling to find a replacement.
Specifically, President Trump argued that any agreement to keep the government open must include a two-year suspension of the U.S. debt ceiling. This limit is the maximum amount that the federal government can borrow to pay for spending.
The debt ceiling is a heated debate that recurs every few years in Washington, and minority parties usually have the most influence. President Trump appears to be hoping to avoid this conflict at the start of his second term.
But allowing the U.S. to borrow more is a bridge too far for many hardline conservative Republicans.
This was evident in Thursday’s disastrous failure of a bill that would have provided minimum government funding and raised the debt ceiling. Almost all Democrats were joined by 38 rank-and-file Republicans who voted against the deal after their party leaders publicly supported the deal.
Like Thursday’s failed vote, Friday’s passage without President Trump’s debt ceiling increase served as a reminder to the president-elect of how difficult it will be to control the notoriously difficult House Republican caucus.
