In a race against the clock to avert a federal shutdown, the House of Representatives passed a crucial bill on Saturday to extend government funding for 45 days. This legislation has now been sent to the Senate, where its fate hangs in the balance. Unless President Joe Biden signs a funding bill before midnight, the government will face a shutdown.
The bill received strong bipartisan support in the House, with an overwhelming vote of 335 to 91. A total of 209 Democrats joined 126 Republicans in favor of the legislation, while 90 Republicans opposed it.
This bill, introduced by House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy just hours before the final vote, proposes extending funding through November 17 and includes a $16 billion allocation for disaster aid. Notably, it does not contain additional funding for Ukraine, a point of contention among hard-right lawmakers.
McCarthy introduced the bill under suspension of the rules, requiring the support of two-thirds of House members to advance it. While Democrats expressed criticism regarding the absence of Ukraine funding, they ultimately provided the necessary support to move the legislation forward.
Following the vote, McCarthy expressed disappointment that a significant portion of his party opposed the bill, citing the intransigence of hard-right Republicans as a factor that left him with no alternative.
The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, celebrated the bill’s passage, noting the removal of extreme right-wing policies from the House spending bill.
Now, the Senate takes center stage in this high-stakes scenario. Senate Democrats have voiced discontent about approving a bill that lacks Ukraine funding, but the House bill currently represents their sole option to prevent a shutdown. Procedural hurdles prevent the Senate from holding a final vote on its own bill until Sunday at the earliest, potentially after a shutdown has already begun.
The weekend session came after the House failed to pass McCarthy’s initial stopgap bill, which aimed to extend government funding for another month while implementing significant spending cuts. McCarthy faced opposition from hard-right Republicans who threatened to remove him from his position if he collaborated with Democrats to keep the government open.
As the nation teeters on the brink of a government shutdown, the potential consequences loom large, including unpaid government workers, disrupted nutritional programs, and delayed disaster relief projects. The White House has laid blame on “extreme House Republicans” for the looming shutdown, emphasizing the avoidable chaos it could create.
The situation now hinges on the Senate’s response, as lawmakers continue to grapple with the pressing need to extend government funding before the midnight deadline.