Congress Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, Averting Government Shutdown
The US Congress has eliminated the threat of a government shutdown this fall. The House voted Tuesday to extend federal spending at current levels, with a few exceptions, through Dec. 11, setting aside the funding fight until after the midterm elections. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and now heads to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law.
The legislation passed the House 370-48, according to NPR News. The Senate already easily passed the measure, known as a continuing resolution, in August. The White House encouraged lawmakers to support the stopgap, and President Trump is expected to sign it.
Federal funding was set to run out Sept. 30, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were eager to avoid a prolonged shutdown as voters head to the polls. By extending government funding beyond the September 30 deadline, lawmakers are taking the threat of a shutdown off the table to focus on the final campaign sprint ahead of the November elections, where control of Congress is at stake.
Congressional leaders turned to a short-term funding patch after bipartisan negotiations in the Senate to appropriate money for the next full fiscal year broke down, as reported by NPR News.
A History of Shutdowns
Government funding has frequently been a divisive issue this Congress, which holds the record for the longest shutdown in US history, as reported by CNN World. Tuesday's vote, however, passed with little fanfare as lawmakers are eager to get out of Washington and back on the campaign trail.
This Congress has seen two record-long government shutdowns in the last year, according to NPR News. Democrats withheld their votes first to pressure Republicans to extend expiring subsidies for health insurance premiums, prompting a 43-day shutdown that ended in November. A 76-day shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security came to a close in April after the party tried to force legislation to reign in the tactics of federal immigration officers.
Lawmakers eventually voted to reopen the government, approving bipartisan appropriations bills covering each federal agency. Though the shutdowns elevated the debates over the cost of health insurance and Trump's immigration crackdown on the national stage, Democrats were unable to extract concrete concessions despite the months-long standoffs.
Details of the Bill
House lawmakers voted on the Senate's version of a short-term government funding bill that the chamber passed last month before leaving town for August recess, as reported by CNN World. The Senate measure differed from an initial funding extension offered by the House in several ways, including a lack of funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which have already been funded through the end of Trump's term.
The Senate measure also included a temporary block on a proposed administration rule that critics warn would further politicize federal grants.