WASHINGTON — Congress passed a week-long spending bill on Thursday to avoid a government shutdown this weekend, giving lawmakers additional time to resolve frenzied negotiations over a broader spending package to keep agencies and departments funded until next fall .
The Senate passed the measure 71 to 19, a day after the House intervened and barely 24 hours before the funding was due to expire. President Biden was expected to sign it before the midnight Friday deadline.
With the immediate threat of a shutdown averted, senior lawmakers from both sides sought to work out the details of a longer-term package whose broad outlines had been agreed this week. That package is expected to total about $1.7 trillion and would keep the government funded through September.
“For the past two years, the 117th Congress has not had a single government shutdown,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat and Majority Leader. “Not one. Not even for a day. I hope we don’t start now, just as we approach the finish.”
The vote came days after senior lawmakers announced they had agreed on overall funding levels for the plan, a critical step toward ironing out the final details. Such a deal had eluded lawmakers for weeks as Republicans demanded a higher increase in funding for the military compared to the education, health and veterans programs that Democrats have long advocated for.
A new US Congress is taking shape
After the 2022 midterm elections, the Democrats retained control of the Senate, while the Republicans flipped the House.
As negotiations continue, lawmakers have declined to provide details on funding levels. But the package is expected to include $858 billion in military spending, matching the amount set out in a military policy bill passed by Congress on Thursday.
Even with the tentative deal, there wasn’t enough time to finalize the longer-term spending measure, which is seen as the final piece of legislation to pass before Congress wraps up its work and leaves Washington by Christmas before the looming closing deadline. Lawmakers also see the package as a means to pass several unfinished priorities, including aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, aid to communities devastated by natural disasters this year and a bipartisan bill to overhaul the way Congress counts electoral votes and certify the results of a presidential election.
With Republicans looking to take control of the House in early January and retired lawmakers eager to approve a final set of funding and legislative priorities, Democrats and several Republicans have been working hard to finalize the spending package before the congressional term ends, rather than of letting one sit. ready in the new year.
But House Republicans have pushed to do just that, believing that punting would allow them to try and use their newfound majority to push through significant cuts.
“We have a bipartisan, bicameral legislature — let’s have the courage to sit down and vote it up or down,” Vermont Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, urged his colleagues on Thursday. “Don’t keep kicking the can – it’s not helping anyone.”
Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the committee, added this week that he believed it was essential for Congress to complete the annual funding process: “I’ve always said that and I’ve tried to do it. ”
It was a notable contrast to the Republican leadership of the House, who openly criticized Mr. Shelby, Mr. Leahy and others for negotiating a compromise. They stopped all but nine Republicans from supporting the emergency bill when it passed the House on Wednesday. In the Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, and several other Republicans supported the temporary spending bill.
The support reflected concerns among many Republicans that delaying the spending package to early 2023 could be a recipe for disaster for their party, including many lawmakers refusing to vote for federal spending, raising the prospect of a government shutdown. enlarged, just as they come to power. in the House.
The Senate also rejected two Republican proposals — an attempt by Senator Mike Lee of Utah to push the deadline to early March and an amendment by Senator Rick Scott of Florida to cut funding for the IRS — to overturn the measure passed by the House. maintain and prevent closure.
While Mr Biden was expected to sign the interim measure, lawmakers and aides worked to resolve their disagreements over the government’s broader funding measure and a wave of demands to include other bills in the final legislative package of the year .
Lawmakers were weighing whether to include several bipartisan bills, including a package of tax extensions, and multiple bills for mental health and science.