In a last-minute rescue, President Joe Biden signed a bill on Saturday to extend government funding for 45 days, effectively averting a looming federal shutdown.
President Biden commended Congress for its bipartisan support in both chambers, while expressing disappointment in House Republicans for their reluctance to cooperate until the eleventh hour.
In a statement, President Biden said, “Tonight, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate voted to keep the government open, preventing an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted needless pain on millions of hardworking Americans.”
He added, “This is good news for the American people. But I want to be clear: we should never have been in this position in the first place.”
The bill’s signing came shortly after the Senate overwhelmingly approved it in a bipartisan vote of 88 to nine, well exceeding the 60-vote threshold required for passage. All nine senators who opposed the bill were Republicans.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer expressed relief, saying, “It’s been a day full of twists and turns, but the American people can breathe a sigh of relief – there will be no shutdown. Our bipartisanship made this possible and showed the House that they had to act.”
Earlier in the day, the House also approved the proposal with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 335 to 91, with 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans supporting the legislation. Notably, 90 House Republicans opposed the bill.
The bill, introduced by House Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy, extends funding until November 17 and allocates $16 billion for disaster aid. However, it does not include additional funding for Ukraine, which has drawn criticism from hard-right lawmakers.
President Biden reassured that additional financial assistance for Ukraine would be addressed separately, stating, “We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.”
McCarthy introduced the stopgap bill under suspension of the rules, requiring the support of two-thirds of House members for advancement. Despite some House Democrats expressing reservations about the lack of Ukraine funding, they ultimately provided the necessary support to pass the bill.
In response, McCarthy expressed his disappointment with the significant opposition within his party but explained that the hard-right Republicans’ inflexibility left him with no other viable option.
The rare weekend session in Congress followed a failed attempt in the House to pass McCarthy’s initial stopgap bill, which aimed to extend government funding for an additional month while imposing significant spending cuts on federal agencies.
Hard-right Republicans had warned of potential repercussions for Speaker McCarthy if he collaborated with Democrats to keep the government open. However, McCarthy downplayed these threats, emphasizing the need for responsible governance.
The White House had warned that a government shutdown would have severe consequences, including unpaid government workers, disruptions to vital nutritional programs, and delays in disaster relief projects.
