The United States Senate on Thursday voted to pass a temporary one-week stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown in order to give lawmakers more time to negotiate on a more permanent measure.
The vote, which had a result of 71-19, comes as the funding is currently set to expire on Friday at exactly midnight. With the measure passing the Senate, it can now move forward to United States President Joe Biden's office so it can be signed into law. It comes after Wednesday when the House passed the measure.
Senate Passes Temporary Stopgap Bill
The stopgap bill will give negotiators another week, until Dec. 23, Friday, to finalize a broader, full-year government funding deal that includes topline spending levels. On Tuesday, as a sign of progress, top negotiators announced that a deal had been reached for a framework that puts lawmakers on track to a full-year government funding package.
In a statement, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said that he and ranking Republican member Richard Shelby and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro reached a bipartisan, bicameral framework, as per CNN.
He noted that the framework would allow them to finish an omnibus appropriations bill that has the capacity to pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by President Biden. However, so far, negotiators have not provided specific details regarding the agreement.
Shelby said on Wednesday that the top line is about $1.7 trillion but declined to elaborate on the subject. He added that the exact allocations of the measure to the different government agencies are still being negotiated by lawmakers.
According to Roll Call, DeLauro expressed her confidence that her chamber will be able to clear the omnibus after it comes back to her side of the Capitol. She noted that they will get it next week, saying that she cannot account for "crazy things" that could pop up.
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Averting a Government Shutdown
The passing of the measure came as there was at least one outstanding issue on the emergency funding title appropriators are planning to add despite the regular or "base" subcommittee allocations appearing to have settled.
Previously, Biden has asked for tens of billions of dollars to respond to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and natural disasters. However, lawmakers are also trying to address a separate administration request for a $3.5 billion increase over the last year to assist the Department of Homeland Security in handling the management of the southern border.
While Democrats had to decrease their regular non-defense allocations, appropriators are working to add border funding to the supplemental package that is currently under consideration. In a statement, Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Chair Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut said that there was still no bipartisan agreement on that matter.
While the House version of the bill passed the bill by a vote of 224-201, which includes nine Republicans supporting it, only one was returning while the other eight are retiring by the end of the year.
On Thursday, the Senate was under pressure to quickly pass the measure and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that they should move quickly to avert a government shutdown. He noted that it would be possible so long as there were no unwelcome brouhaha moments, CNBC reported.
