The federal government shutdown was averted after the Senate handed the Home funding invoice
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed a government funding bill Saturday that averted a government shutdown and marked the end of a chaotic week in Congress with much at stake.
The White House said in a statement that the bill had been signed. Biden made no public statements after the 11-hour negotiations in Congress that led to the U.S. Senate approving the bipartisan federal spending bill.
“While it does not contain everything we sought…President Biden supports moving forward with this legislation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Friday.
US President Joe Biden delivers a speech on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, USA on December 10, 2024.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The bill authorizes continued federal funding at current levels for three months and provides additional disaster relief and agricultural assistance.
The House overwhelmingly approved the measure Friday evening by a vote of 366-34, with all Democrats and more than three-quarters of Republicans supporting it.
The bill was approved in the Senate shortly after midnight by a vote of 85-11. Of the no votes, 10 came from Republicans and one came from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
The strong support for the emergency funding bill reflected a bipartisan desire to avoid a costly shutdown that could have jeopardized the paychecks of hundreds of thousands of federal workers just days before Christmas.
The dramatic votes in both the House and Senate capped several days of chaos on Capitol Hill as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., tried to accede to President-elect Donald Trump's demands, but failed.
Trump and his billionaire campaign donor Elon Musk Tesla The CEO scuppered an initial negotiated financing plan Wednesday by sharply criticizing its provisions, leaving Republicans struggling to find a replacement for most of Thursday.
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Specifically, Trump insisted that any agreement to keep the government open must include a two-year suspension of the U.S. debt limit. The limit is the maximum amount the federal government can borrow to pay its expenses.
The debt ceiling is a recurring, bitter debate in Washington every few years, in which the political party in the minority typically has a lot of influence. Trump seems keen to avoid this fight as he begins his second term.
But authorizing the United States to borrow more money goes too far for many conservative Republicans.
This became clear when Thursday's bill, which proposed minimal government funding and a debt ceiling increase, received a resounding rejection. In addition to almost all Democrats, 38 rank-and-file Republicans voted against it after their party's leader publicly supported the agreement.
Like Thursday's failed vote, Friday's passage – without Trump's debt limit increase – reminded the new president how difficult it is to control the notoriously divided Republican faction in the House of Representatives.
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