Congress halted a government shutdown with a second stop-gap funding bill, setting up a spending fight between House and Senate early in the new year.
The federal government will remain open as the Senate on late Wednesday joined the House in passing a stopgap funding measure that will extend the previous year’s funding in two stages through Feb. 2.
The bill passed 87-11 in the upper chamber. It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke on the floor in support of the measure prior to its passage by the Senate.
“I have good news for the American people: this Friday night, there will be no government shutdown,” Mr. Schumer said, calling the measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), “a great outcome.”
Mr. Schumer added, “I am pleased that Speaker Johnson realized he needed Democratic votes to avoid a shutdown. If the speaker is willing to work with Democrats and resist the siren song of the hard right in the House, then we can work avoid shutdowns in the future and finish the work of funding the government.”
Mr. Schumer added that the CR offered by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was “a good first step and a very good omen for the future.”
The bill, which has been labeled a “laddered” CR, will fund four broad areas of the federal government through Jan. 19 and the remaining eight through Feb. 2. This allows Congress another 60-75 days to complete the 12 spending bills that were due on Sept. 30.
The House passed the laddered bill on Nov. 14 over the objection of 93 Republicans who refused to continue the 2023 funding levels and priorities enacted by Democrats nearly a year ago.
The extension comes amid an ongoing effort by fiscal conservatives in the House both to reduce what they see as runaway federal spending and to reform the way Congress makes spending decisions.
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