In a rare display of bipartisanship, the US Congress passed a spending bill on Saturday, March 23, keeping federal agencies open until September and preventing a catastrophic partial government shutdown. Senators voted in the wee hours of the morning to approve a resolution that had already passed the House, despite missing the midnight deadline to approve the US$1.2 trillion plan to keep the lights on in numerous important federal departments.
“It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it,” Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declared on the Senate floor after hours of difficult bargaining We have achieved a bipartisan consensus to complete the task," he said prior to the Bill's official ratification.
The House of Representatives cleared a US$1.2 trillion, six-bill package Friday at midday, setting the stage for a day of high-stakes drama on Capitol Hill. This bill bundle represents the biggest and most controversial portion of government financing.
It was a race against time for the Senate to get the law on President Joe Biden's desk since funding for three-quarters of the government, including homeland security and defense, ran out at midnight. However, it seemed as if the budget talks were coming to an end as both parties pushed to change the bill to suit their interests and campaign rhetoric before November's presidential election, in which Biden would face outgoing President Donald Trump.
Without an agreement to take a vote, senators were getting ready to adjourn, which would have forced the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to start reducing staffing in important government agencies on Saturday morning. However, negotiations brokered shortly before the midnight deadline, and the Senate decided to approve the resolution soon after two in the morning, Washington time.
Following the agreement, the White House released a statement saying, "OMB has ceased shutdown preparations because there is a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant appropriations and the president will sign the Bill on Saturday."
"Agencies may continue their regular operations and will not close down due to the daily tracking and invoicing of federal fund obligations."
Just a few hours before, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had infuriated members of his own party by depending on Democratic support to move the plan forward to the Senate.
Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene informed reporters that she had filed a "motion to vacate" the speaker's chair in protest of Johnson endorsing the financing deal, which had been the subject of weeks of heated discussions between the two parties.
The resolution, a unique tactic that needs only a simple majority to succeed, was the catalyst for the autumn ousting of former speaker Kevin McCarthy and weeks of internal Republican infighting as the party rejected numerous possible candidates before deciding on Johnson.
The House is now on a two-week break, so a vote to remove Johnson cannot happen until April at the earliest. However, the timeframe for Greene's resolution's following stages was not immediately apparent.
"Quite a few" Republicans, according to Greene, were behind her campaign, as she told CNN.
About 70% of federal departments and agencies would have been impacted by the shutdown, while the first 30%, which included housing, transportation, research, agriculture, and veteran's programs, passed last month without any significant problems.
The announcement of the agreement, which was first anticipated last weekend, was postponed due to disagreements over the financing of homeland security. However, five of the six Bills covering the other government expenditures were likewise simple.
The absence of more stringent border security measures in the package, the deal's high cost, and the accelerated negotiation pace infuriated Republican hardliners.
“It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it,” Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declared on the Senate floor after hours of difficult bargaining We have achieved a bipartisan consensus to complete the task," he said prior to the Bill's official ratification.
The House of Representatives cleared a US$1.2 trillion, six-bill package Friday at midday, setting the stage for a day of high-stakes drama on Capitol Hill. This bill bundle represents the biggest and most controversial portion of government financing.
It was a race against time for the Senate to get the law on President Joe Biden's desk since funding for three-quarters of the government, including homeland security and defense, ran out at midnight. However, it seemed as if the budget talks were coming to an end as both parties pushed to change the bill to suit their interests and campaign rhetoric before November's presidential election, in which Biden would face outgoing President Donald Trump.
Without an agreement to take a vote, senators were getting ready to adjourn, which would have forced the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to start reducing staffing in important government agencies on Saturday morning. However, negotiations brokered shortly before the midnight deadline, and the Senate decided to approve the resolution soon after two in the morning, Washington time.
Following the agreement, the White House released a statement saying, "OMB has ceased shutdown preparations because there is a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant appropriations and the president will sign the Bill on Saturday."
"Agencies may continue their regular operations and will not close down due to the daily tracking and invoicing of federal fund obligations."
Just a few hours before, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had infuriated members of his own party by depending on Democratic support to move the plan forward to the Senate.
Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene informed reporters that she had filed a "motion to vacate" the speaker's chair in protest of Johnson endorsing the financing deal, which had been the subject of weeks of heated discussions between the two parties.
The resolution, a unique tactic that needs only a simple majority to succeed, was the catalyst for the autumn ousting of former speaker Kevin McCarthy and weeks of internal Republican infighting as the party rejected numerous possible candidates before deciding on Johnson.
The House is now on a two-week break, so a vote to remove Johnson cannot happen until April at the earliest. However, the timeframe for Greene's resolution's following stages was not immediately apparent.
"Quite a few" Republicans, according to Greene, were behind her campaign, as she told CNN.
About 70% of federal departments and agencies would have been impacted by the shutdown, while the first 30%, which included housing, transportation, research, agriculture, and veteran's programs, passed last month without any significant problems.
The announcement of the agreement, which was first anticipated last weekend, was postponed due to disagreements over the financing of homeland security. However, five of the six Bills covering the other government expenditures were likewise simple.
The absence of more stringent border security measures in the package, the deal's high cost, and the accelerated negotiation pace infuriated Republican hardliners.
