The Senate has approved a funding bill to prevent a government shutdown. Here is the official count of the final vote.
The Senate successfully approved a temporary funding measure on Wednesday evening, preventing a shutdown of the government and postponing a budget battle in Congress until the beginning of next year.
After receiving an 87-11 approval from the Senate, the bill now makes its way to President Biden’s desk. The lone Democratic senator who voted against the proposal was Sen. Michael Bennet from Colorado.
The House passed the bill
The House passed a bill, referred to as a continuing resolution, on Tuesday evening and it will now be considered by the Senate before the Friday deadline. If the bill is not passed, the government will face a shutdown starting on Saturday.
The bill proposes a two-phase approach to extend funding for various programs related to veterans, transportation, housing, agriculture, and energy until January 19. Additionally, funding for eight other bills, such as defense, would be extended until February 2.
The budget does not provide additional monetary support for Israel or Ukraine.
The plan with two steps was initially rejected by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, but he later stated that Democrats would back it because it does not include spending cuts or “extreme right-wing policy riders.” Almost all Democrats voted in favor of the measure, but many Republicans voted against it.
The Majority Leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, expressed his desire for a robust bipartisan vote on the House bill.
Schumer stated on Tuesday that both he and McConnell are in agreement that a government shutdown is unwanted.
It is anticipated that Mr. Biden will approve the legislation.
Why is there another potential government shutdown?
Congress is in charge of approving twelve appropriations bills that allocate funding for various federal government agencies for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on October 1st. These bills are typically combined into one comprehensive legislation known as an “omnibus” bill.
The House has approved seven pieces of legislation, while the Senate has approved three that were combined into a “minibus.” None have been approved by both chambers.
In September, the government was able to secure funding until November 17th after Congress made a deal at the eleventh hour to prevent a shutdown.
Conservative members were dissatisfied with the brief postponement, which lacked budget reductions and urged the House to approve the funding proposals separately, causing a stir.
Remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position. as their leader.
The removal of McCarthy resulted in a three-week freeze on legislative progress in the House due to disagreements within the Republican Party about who should take his place.
When Johnson assumed the position of chairperson, he had limited time to gather his members in support of a strategy to prevent a government shutdown. As a result, he found himself in a similar predicament as McCarthy, where he required votes from Democrats to approve a bill that did not meet the spending reduction demands of conservatives.
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Source: cbsnews.com