The bill, which was rushed through both houses of Congress earlier in the day, freezes funding levels for federal departments and agencies until December 3.
Biden Signs the Stopgap Funding Bill
In a recently published article in Hindustan Times, President Joe Biden signed a nine-week temporary financing package on Thursday that avoids a government shutdown but does not address the danger of a U.S. default related to the debt ceiling.
The plan does not, however, contain a provision requested by Democrats to suspend the nation's debt ceiling, which was rejected by Republicans in the Senate in a previous version of the package. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that if Congress does not increase the debt ceiling by October 18, the government would be unable to pay its debts, putting the U.S. economy in jeopardy.
In the face of adamant Republican opposition, Democrats abandoned an earlier effort to tie a debt-ceiling suspension to the package, and it cleared both houses. On Monday, Republican senators rejected a version of the package that included debt limit provisions, according to a report published in MSN News.
Measures Under the H.R. 5305
Senators rejected a few Republican amendments and then passed a temporary financing measure, 65-35, that not only averts a shutdown until December 3 but also contains $28.6 billion in disaster assistance for states hit by severe weather and $6.3 billion to help Afghan refugees.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has maintained that his conference would not assist Democrats to raise the debt ceiling or even speed up their ability to do so and citing worries over the ruling party's plan to approve billions in additional spending for social and climate policies. This is what is happening despite a debt limit hike to pay for a previous bipartisan debt, as per Reuters.
However, despite broad support for the measure, the temporary package did not contain a planned $1 billion for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. According to senators from both parties, the House has approved a separate measure giving that money, and the Senate may take it up shortly.
Some Republicans Chastise the Stopgap Bill
Republicans blamed Democrats for the last-minute stopgap vote, claiming they attempted to tie the measure to the debt limit last week. Kay Granger of Texas, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, stated on the House floor that she had voted against the measure last week because of the debt problem.
In a published report in CNN News, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, objected to a provision in the bill that he believes benefits the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The money should be used to offset the cost of the Iron Dome system, according to Paul.
Democrats Defend the Bill
Democrats asked GOP senators to agree to a simple majority vote with just Democratic votes to approve the bill. Republicans have so far rejected this, preferring to compel Democrats to go through weeks-long budget process to accomplish the same objective.
Furthermore, because none of the 12 regular appropriations bills for fiscal 2022 have been passed into law due to a disagreement between Democrats and minority Senate Republicans over military and domestic spending levels, a temporary funding measure is required. Leahy said on Wednesday that he intends to release draft spending legislation shortly in order to kick-start the process of reaching an agreement before the new deadline.
