US Senate passes government funding bill, averting shutdown
The US Congress approved a funding bill on Saturday in a rare show of crossparty unity, keeping federal agencies running through September and averting a damaging partial government shutdown.
Senators missed a midnight deadline to pass the $1.2 trillion package to keep the lights on in several key government agencies but voted in the early hours to pass a resolution that had already advanced from the House.
“It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it,” Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor after hours of tense negotiation.
“It is good for the American people that we have reached a bipartisan agreement to finish
the job,” he added before the bill received final approval.
A day of high-stakes drama began on Capitol Hill when the House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion, six-bill package on Friday at lunchtime, representing the largest and most contentious section of federal funding.
With cash running out at midnight for three-quarters of the government, including defence and homeland security, the Senate was thrust into a race against the clock to advance the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk.
But the budget negotiations looked like they were breaking down, with both sides pushing to tweak the legislation to reflect their campaign messaging and priorities ahead of November’s presidential election, when Biden faces former president Donald Trump.
Senators were preparing to adjourn with no deal on holding a vote, which would have prompted the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to begin scaling back operations in key federal agencies on Saturday morning. But a deal came together just as the midnight deadline arrived and the Senate voted to pass the resolution after 2am (local time) in Washington.