The Senate has passed a short-term bill to keep the federal government funded through early December, averting a shutdown that was set to kick in at midnight.
The stopgap funding bill, which passed the Senate on Thursday afternoon in a 65-35 vote, sustains agencies’ spending until December 3. The House was expected to pass the measure later in the day, which then would send it to President Joe Biden to sign.
A partial government shutdown was on the brink of occurring when the new budget year starts on Friday.
To avoid a shutdown, Democrats were forced to heed to Republicans’ insistence to take out a suspension of the government’s borrowing limit from the bill.
Senate Republicans on Monday blocked the initial package over the borrowing provision and refused to give Democrats any votes needed to pass the bill and avert a shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, earlier on Thursday said he was ‘confident the House will approve this measure later this afternoon and send it to the president’s desk before funding runs out’.
‘This is a good outcome – one I am happy we are getting done,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor before the vote.
‘With so many things happening in Washington, the last thing the American people need is for the government to grind to a halt.’
The temporary funding bill would provide $28.6billion to hurricane, wildfire and other disaster recovery efforts across the US, as well as $6.3billion to help Afghan refugees resettle in America.
The House has until the end of Thursday to adopt the measure and avoid what would be a crippling shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said: ‘We hope this can be a strongly bipartisan bill because it keeps vital services running.’
After December 3, Congress would need to adopt a continuing resolution, which is another short-term fix, or pass a dozen appropriation bills in order to keep federal agencies funded through the 2022 fiscal year.
A final House vote on Biden’s $1.2trillion infrastructure bill that already passed the Senate is also set for Thursday.
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