A government funding bill is set to be sent to the White House, where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.
The US Congress passed spending legislation. Early Saturday morning in a rush A quick burst of activity would prevent a destabilizing government shutdown ahead of the busy holiday travel season.
Agreed Senate The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted 85-11 to approve a bill to continue funding the government 38 minutes after it expired at midnight (0500 GMT Saturday). The government has not been shut down in the meantime.
The bill is now set to be sent to the White House, where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.
The package had earlier been approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives with bipartisan support.
The late-night vote capped a frenetic week that saw President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk defeat a tentative bipartisan deal, throwing Congress into chaos.
Congress has not taken any action on Trump’s demand to raise the debt ceiling, a difficult political task, before he takes office on Jan. 20, 2025.
The federal government spent about $6.2 trillion last year, has debt of more than $36 trillion, and Congress will have to move to authorize more borrowing by the middle of next year.
The legislation would extend government funding through March 14, 2025, provide $100 billion to disaster-hit states and $10 billion to farmers, and extend agricultural and food assistance programs that are set to expire at the end of the year.
Some Republicans voted against the package because it did not cut spending. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the GOP will have more influence next year, when it has majorities in both houses of Congress and Trump is in the White House.
“This was a necessary step to close the gap and put us in that moment where we can put our fingerprints on the final decisions on spending,” he told reporters after the House vote, adding that Trump supports the package.
A government shutdown would disrupt everything from law enforcement to national parks and suspend paychecks for millions of federal workers.
A travel industry trade group has warned that this could cost airlines, hotels and other businesses $1 billion a week and cause widespread disruption during the busy Christmas season. Authorities have warned travelers they could face long queues at airports.
Third attempt
The package is similar to a bipartisan plan that was abandoned earlier this week after an online attack from Trump and Musk, who said it contained many unrelated provisions, such as raising lawmakers’ pay and cracking down on pharmacy benefit managers.
Republicans removed most of those elements from the bill — including a provision limiting investments in China that Democrats said could conflict with Musk’s interests.
“He clearly doesn’t want to answer questions about how much he plans to expand his business in China and how much American technology he plans to sell,” Democratic Rep. Rosa DiLauro said in the House.
Trump has tasked Musk, the world’s richest man, with heading a budget-cutting task force, but he will not hold any official position in Washington.
Musk wrote on his social media platform X that he was happy with the package, adding: “I went from a pound bill to an ounce bill.”
The last federal government shutdown was for 35 days during Trump’s first term in the White House over a dispute over border security.
