U.S. Congress Passes Bill To Avert Gov't Shutdown

With only hours to spare, Congress passed legislation that would avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3, and sent the bill to President Joe Biden, Kevin Freking and Bryan Slodysko reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Speaker Nancy Pelosi signs H.R. 5305, a Continuing Resolution that ensures we keep the federal government open.

The back-to-back votes by the Senate and then the House will help avert one crisis, but delays another as the political parties dig in on a dispute over how to raise the government’s borrowing cap before the United States risks a potentially catastrophic default.

The House approved the short-term funding measure by a 254-175 vote not long after Senate passage in a 65-35 vote. A large majority of Republicans in both chambers voted against it.

The legislation was needed to keep the government running once the current budget year ended at midnight Thursday. Passage will buy lawmakers more time to craft the spending measures that will fund federal agencies and the programs they administer.

Writing for the New York Times, Remy Tumin reported the spending bill would extend federal funding through Dec. 3, and provide emergency aid for the resettlement of Afghan refugees and for disaster recovery efforts across the country. Lawmakers reached a deal after Democrats agreed to strip out a provision that would have raised the debt ceiling.

Now, all eyes are on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing forward on a vote planned for tonight as she tries to get both moderates and progressives on board.

Senator Joe Manchin, a key holdout, said he supported a $1.5 trillion social safety net bill, less than half of Biden’s proposal. Liberal Democrats have threatened to oppose the infrastructure package without substantial progress toward passing the second, far larger bill, Clare Foran and AI Zaslav reported for CNN.

Congress still has to find a way to raise or suspend the debt ceiling before October 18, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen projects the government will run out of funds to pay US debts, Reuters, Tony Romm of the Washington Post, and Caitlin Emma of Politico also reported.

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