The United States Congress has once again avoided a partial government shutdown, just one day before funding was set to expire. Both chambers approved a funding extension until March with overwhelming bipartisan support, giving lawmakers more time to hammer out a long-term spending agreement.
The Senate voted 77-18, and the House voted 314-108 to extend funding to March 1 and March 8. By avoiding a shutdown, Americans are spared disruptions in food safety inspections, passport processing, air travel, early childhood learning programs, small business loans, and more for another six weeks.
To pass the funding extension, lawmakers had to sidestep hard-right GOP lawmakers who have used House procedure to protest their leadership. Conservatives sought to block the deal because it continues current spending levels. The extension was passed using a method that requires significant bipartisan support to avoid hardline GOP lawmakers from disrupting the passing of the bill. This is the third government funding extension this Congress has approved, the first in September and again in November.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was toppled by members of his own party over a bipartisan spending agreement. His successor, House Speaker Mike Johnson, passed another extension in November. In an effort to appease right-wing members of his caucus, he pledged not to support another one. However, he changed his position in January when it was clear Congress would not meet the existing deadline. Johnson pledged that this will give Republicans a chance to fight for conservative policy priorities to be included in the budget, though Democrats have said they will not support anything that includes “poison pill” policies.
The deal passed despite objections from the House Freedom Caucus, a group of right-wing members who have challenged both Speaker’s grip on power. They called on Johnson to “walk away from his agreement with Senate Majority Leader Schumer” and pursue deep spending cuts and their desired changes to border and migrant policy. However, lawmakers hailed avoiding a government shutdown as excellent news for Americans, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stating, “both sides working together…no chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown.”
President Joe Biden will sign the legislation, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that this extension must lead to a lasting solution. She also called on House Republicans to “finally do their job and work across the aisle” to pass spending bills that fund the government for the full year. Congress will now begin finally writing the spending legislation that was initially due at the end of September, giving Democrats and Republicans the chance to work together on a long-term budget solution.