Congress passed a short-term extension in government funding on Wednesday, temporarily avoiding a shutdown as Washington shifts its attention to the November election.
Lawmakers in both chambers easily passed the three-month measure, known as a continuing resolution, over the objection of some conservatives and former President Donald Trump, who wanted election security legislation attached.
All House Democrats ultimately voted in favor of the extension, with 82 Republicans opposed. In the Senate, the measure passed 78-18 in a vote held an hour later. The bill now heads to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it before the Oct. 1 deadline.
“Tonight, the American people can sleep easier knowing we have avoided an unnecessary government shutdown at the end of the month,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said from the Senate floor on Wednesday.
“This bipartisanship is a good outcome for America, and I hope it sets the tone for more constructive, bipartisan work when we return later in the fall,” he added.
The legislation, which extends current spending levels until Dec. 20, buys lawmakers more time to negotiate a budget for the 2025 fiscal year. It also punts that fight until after the election, when voters will decide control of Congress. Lawmakers will not return to Capitol Hill until Nov. 12.
The continuing resolution does not allocate new spending for most government agencies, according to legislative text released on Sunday. It does, however, include an additional $230 million for the Secret Service following two attempts on former President Donald Trump’s life.
The bill’s passage follows a failed effort by House Republicans to extend government funding until March with the SAVE Act, a proof-of-citizenship voting bill, attached. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) initially demanded the voting legislation at the urging of Trump, but later back-tracked when it could not pass the House.
On Wednesday, hard-line conservatives voted against the funding extension, which Schumer demanded be free of “poison pills.” Still, GOP leaders framed the bill as a win, arguing they were able to fight off Democratic demands for spending increases.
The real fight will come in December, when Republicans seek to reduce spending below the caps set in debt limit negotiations with Biden last year. Kevin McCarthy, then the House speaker, benefited from GOP unity in talks with the White House, but Republican infighting over the deal he brokered has weakened Johnson’s hand.
Johnson, who blames Senate Democrats for not passing any of their appropriations bills so far this year, has promised not to push through an end-of-year omnibus when lawmakers return to Washington, despite the new funding deadline butting up against the Christmas recess.
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Five of the House’s 12 appropriations bills have yet to be passed.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the Washington Examiner she expects one all-encompassing bill to be negotiated when lawmakers return in the fall.
