President Joe Biden signed a funding bill late Thursday night that would put a hold on the government shut down set to expire at midnight on Sept. 30. The stopgap measure extends funding to the government until Dec. 3.
The move comes as Biden and Democratic leaders try to avoid the first shut down of the Biden-Harris administration. While government shut downs have become common in presidencies, they are never popular. Many federal workers were left wondering about how they’d survive a federal shutdown after already dealing with the economic impacts of COVID-19.
Easing tensions Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer announced late Wednesday night that an agreement had been reached, and a resolution was to be voted on the next day. The agreed-upon resolution would fund the federal government at current levels for a particular extended amount of time.
The spending bill was introduced in the U.S House of Representatives early Thursday morning where it passed overwhelming, with a 254 to 175 vote. Gaining a rarely-seen amount of bipartisan support, the bill moved confidently to the Senate.
The resolution later passed the U.S Senate Thursday afternoon with a 65 to 35 vote in the chamber. With more bipartisan support Schumer said in a closing speech “This is a good outcome, one I’m happy we are getting done.”
With the bill passing the Democratic majority Congress, it headed to the president’s desk for its final approval before the deadline.
Bipartisan support for a bill in this political climate seems like a rare sighting, especially so fast. But avoiding a government shut down is one thing Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on.
When asked about the bill passing President Biden says “the passage of this bill reminds us that bipartisan work is possible and it gives us time to pass longer-term funding to keep our government running and deliver for for the American people”.
Later, after signing the bill, President Biden recapped in a tweet saying “Tonight I signed the continuing resolution to fund our government through December,” and “[the resolution] gives us more time to pass longer-term funding and deliver for the American people.”