The US Senate has decided to spend $1.2tn, which will keep the government running until September.
IN SHORT
US Senate Passes $1.2tn Spending Package to Fund US Government
• The US Senate passed a $1.2tn spending package to fund the US government through September, averting a partial shutdown and ending a lengthy fight.
• President Joe Biden will receive the legislation for signing into law.
• Democrat Senate majority leader Chuck Shumer expressed satisfaction with the bipartisan agreement.
• The funding bill addresses critical government operations, including the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State, and the legislative branch.
• The White House halted shutdown preparations due to the confidence that Congress would imminently pass the bill and President Biden would sign it into law.
• The bill has already passed the House of Representatives, with a final vote of 286 to 134, narrowly above the two-thirds majority needed.
The US Senate has passed a $1.2tn spending package that will fund the US government through September, ending a lengthy fight that has loomed over both sides of Capitol Hill for months.
The legislation will next be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law, which he is expected to do on Saturday.
Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Shumer said it had not been easy but “our persistence has been worth it”. The legislation will bring an end to months of acrimonious wrangling between the two main parties.The vote marks a major moment on Capitol Hill as it brings to a close an annual appropriations process that has dragged on far longer than is typical.
Partisan policy disagreements and a historic change of leadership in the House, following conservatives’ unprecedented ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year, have punctuated the effort.
Despite the Senate’s action after the midnight deadline, it effectively prevented any lapse in funding or government function, ensuring the federal government’s funding through the end of the fiscal year.The Senate’s vote comes after the end of a tumultuous day on Capitol Hill, highlighting how narrow the majorities are in both chambers and how high tensions are running among lawmakers.
Firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia filed a motion to oust Johnson from the speakership, representing the most formal and strident challenge to the speaker’s leadership since he took over in late last year.
The final House vote was 286-134, with 112 Republicans and 22 Democrats voting against.The funding bill addresses a slate of critical government operations, including the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State, and the legislative branch.
The White House said early on Saturday that the US Office of Management and Budget had ceased shutdown preparations because it was confident Congress would imminently pass the bill and President Biden would sign it into law.