The U.S. government’s legislative branch passes a temporary bill to prevent a government shutdown, sending the proposal to President Biden for approval.
The United States Congress has passed a temporary solution to fund the government until early March, effectively preventing a partial shutdown that was scheduled to occur on Saturday morning.
The continuing resolution was passed by the House in a vote of 314 to 108 on Thursday, with bipartisan support. Earlier in the day, the Senate also voted to approve it with a vote of 77 to 18.
America can expect positive developments as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, announced that there will be no shutdown on Friday. This aligns with what Americans desire – a collaborative and responsible approach to governing. There will be no disorder, no dramatic display, and no shutdown.
The new legislation provides continued funding for certain government agencies until March 1, and others until March 8. This two-part deadline is a modification of the previous deadline proposed by conservative members of the House in order to avoid a large omnibus spending bill for government funding. However, some members of the Republican conference’s more conservative wing opposed the temporary measure to maintain government funding.
A group of conservative representatives had a meeting with Louisiana Republican Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday to propose adding a border security amendment to the continuing resolution. This temporarily raised doubts about the resolution’s approval. However, Johnson’s team promptly clarified that there were no changes to the plan and that the House would proceed with the vote on Thursday.
Johnson once again turned to Democrats for support in keeping the government funded as he faced opposition from conservative members of the House and a small majority within the GOP.
He faced a nearly identical situation
In November, he required the support of Democrats to approve a brief funding extension. This occurred shortly after Johnson was chosen as the replacement.Kevin McCarthy
The individual in question was removed from their position for engaging in similar behavior – collaborating with the opposing party to sustain government operations. However, for Johnson, who had only been in his role as speaker for a few days, there appeared to be enough positive sentiment within his group to enable him to retain his leadership role.
It is unclear if this will be the case again. Prior to voting on the ongoing resolution, the right-wing House Freedom Caucus advised Republican members to vote against its approval.
The House Freedom Caucus released a statement urging Speaker Mike Johnson to break his agreement with Senate Majority Leader Schumer and approve a spending package that significantly decreases annual spending while also protecting our southern border. They believe this is the key to success.
The last-minute bipartisan deal
The disagreement between leaders in both the House and Senate regarding overall spending has resulted in a tight deadline for the appropriations committees to draft and approve the necessary bills. This has created a sense of urgency for Congress to pass another temporary funding extension in order to avoid a government shutdown.
Reporting was provided by Alejandro Alvarez and Jaala Brown.
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Source: cbsnews.com