Senate avoids shutdown by passing budget bill after deadline

Senate avoids shutdown by passing budget bill after deadline

Averting a federal shutdown, the Senate passes a $1.2 trillion spending plan.

To avoid a partial government shutdown, the Senate finally passed a $1.2 trillion budget bill after hours of deadlock. Some federal money officially lapsed short since passage occurred after a 12:01 a.m. deadline. President Biden is expected to sign the law later on Saturday, according to the White House.

Early Saturday morning, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion budget plan to avoid a temporary partial government shutdown, and President Biden will now sign the bill into law.

This bill increases military pay, supports three-quarters of the federal government for the next six months, strengthens border security with Mexico, and eliminates U.S. financing for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

In a statement, the White House said that the Office of Management and Budget has ceased shutdown preparations. The reason behind this decision is the high level of confidence that the relevant appropriations will be passed by Congress soon and signed by the President on Saturday. Agencies are not need to close and can keep operating as usual as long as federal funding requirements are incurred and monitored regularly.

What follows is an outline of what happens throughout the remainder of the night or early morning:

1. Motions and amendments to recommit the $1.2 trillion spending plan will be considered in six separate roll call votes. None of these will succeed, and it may be some time before they do. There will be six further votes, each lasting around ten minutes, after the first one, which will last almost an hour.

2: The next step is a vote by voice. These things won’t last long and they’ll all fall flat.
3. Following this, there will be three additional roll call votes to try to kill the law. These will also fall flat (and ideally not for long).
4: The government financing bill will clear the Senate and go forward rather swiftly after its final vote. By 2 or 1:30 in the morning, this vote should have been taken.

Senate gets consensus to restrict discussion and vote on budget bill

Late Friday night, senators came to a consensus to expedite the vote on a $1.2 trillion spending plan, so avoiding a government shutdown, by limiting the amount of time senators may spend discussing the bill.

There is still time for lawmakers to complete their work before funding expires at 12:01 a.m., but a vote on passage is anticipated shortly after that.

Before proceeding to ultimate passage, the Senate will vote on numerous amendments. The plan has widespread bipartisan support, so Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) can bring it to the floor for a final vote and send it to President Biden for signature. If those proposals fail, the way is cleared for the law. (Shutdown proceedings would ensue upon their adoption; the House has already begun recess and will not be present to reconsider the bill.)

“I will keep this brief because our goal is to proceed swiftly to the vote,” Schumer stated just fifteen minutes prior to the deadline for the closed government. “We have just reached an agreement to finish funding the government,” he said, after a long and tough day.

The arrangement is particularly beneficial for Senate Appropriations Committee vice chairperson, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine). Patricia Collins, who was 96 years old and had a long and distinguished career as a civic leader and former mayor of a small town, passed away earlier this month. Caribou, Maine, a small town around 300 miles north of Portland, will be the site of her funeral on Saturday at 11 a.m.

With less time spent on discussion, Collins can go to the burial without having to miss a vote. Collins has served five terms in the Senate, beginning in 1997. She has recorded more than 8,000 straight votes without missing a beat.

This $1.2 trillion bill, what does it contain?

Roughly three quarters of the government will be funded until the 2024 fiscal year ends on September 30th, thanks to this legislation.

In addition to the growing uncertainty around the party’s leadership, Friday’s vote will cause the Republican majority in the House to erode even further.

Upon the return of lawmakers from their spring recess on April 19, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) will announce his resignation from Congress. On Friday, Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado cast his last congressional vote; he plans to retire when the House adjourns later that day. As a result of these resignations, the Republican majority will shrink from 218 to 217 seats, with 214 Democrats joining them.

The Appropriations Committee head, Republican Kay Granger of Texas, has announced her resignation. In private, lawmakers question whether Granger, who is 81 years old and unwell, would be able to finish her tenure.

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s already precarious grip on power is being further weakened by the departures. As a result of Friday’s vote, which was a rejection of his spending deal, Johnson (R-La.) already lost the support of numerous other GOP committee chairs. Also, in a major shakeup within the Republican Party, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene moved to remove Johnson from office by vacating the speakership.

Democrats have provided the majority of votes on three last-minute temporary measures and one larger appropriations package, out of four significant federal funding bills that Johnson has enacted since taking office as speaker in October.