With a midnight deadline looming, the Senate voted tonight to avert a government shutdown by passing the $459 billion, six-bill spending package approved by the House earlier this week. The vote was 75-22.
The drive to pass the package hit a little speed bump earlier in the day as several conservative Republican senators reportedly demanded amendment votes before they would agree to expedite a final vote on the legislation. Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a deal Friday evening to allow votes on four Republican amendments before moving to final passage.
“After months of hard work, we have good news for the country: Tonight the Senate has reached an agreement avoiding a shutdown on the first six funding bills,” Schumer said. “We will keep important programs funded for moms and kids, for veterans, for the environment, for housing, and so much more. Because both sides cooperated today, we’ve taken a major step toward our goal of fully funding the government.”
Schumer said the deal gives the Senate “momentum and space” to also finish the remaining six appropriations bills by the next deadline on March 22.
Up until the deal was reached, though, the timing of a vote on the first batch of spending bills — and whether Congress might stumble into a brief shutdown — remained unclear as Republicans blocked quick action.
“Throughout Friday afternoon, a parade of far-right lawmakers took to the Senate floor to protest the legislation, which they said did not do enough to cut federal spending and lacked policy wins that conservatives on both sides of the Capitol demanded,” The Washington Post’s Jacob Bogage reports. “Some Republicans wanted the bills to include harsh new restrictions on immigration and to beef up U.S.-Mexico border security. Another wanted an amendment to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment of electoral votes and members of the House. Yet another sought to eliminate earmarks from the funding bill.”
The bottom line: The Senate’s approval of the “minibus” spending package sends it to the president, who can sign it and officially avert a shutdown. Lawmakers will then have two weeks to pass the final six spending bills.
