Senate Approves Measure Averting Government Shutdown

The Senate approved a $1.2 trillion package funding federal agencies in the early hours of Saturday morning, missing its midnight deadline but averting a partial government shutdown.

The passage of the measure in a 74 to 24 vote wrapped up months of drama in Congress that centered on conservatives’ demands for deeper spending cuts, completing work on funding the government through the end of the fiscal year in September. The measure, which had passed the House on Friday, was quickly signed into law by President Biden.

“It’s been a long day, a long week, a very long few months, but tonight we have funded the government,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). The Senate vote went ahead after Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement over GOP amendment votes related to contentious issues including immigration policy, all of which then failed.

While some parts of the federal government, including the Defense Department, experienced a very brief lapse in funding after 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the White House Office of Management and Budget said it has ended shutdown preparations and agencies would continue normal operations.

The passage in the Senate came after the package of six spending bills narrowly survived strong Republican opposition in the House a day earlier. The measure passed 286 to 134 in the House, barely exceeding the two-thirds supermajority needed to approve the bill under a special procedure used by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) to bypass internal GOP divisions in his razor-thin majority.

Most House Democrats backed the measure, while more than half of Republicans were opposed, underscoring the divided state of the Republican conference and highlighting how Johnson has had to rely on the opposition party to keep the government funded.