Less than an hour before funding for federal agencies was to expire, President Joe Biden signed a bill to fund the government through mid-November and prevent a shutdown.
Late Saturday night, Biden said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he implored Congress to immediately enact funding bills for the entire fiscal year.
Biden Signs Last-Minute Stopgap Funding Measure
In a rare weekend meeting, the US Senate approved a funding measure Saturday night, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature and averting a widely feared government suspension. The law, which passed the Senate by a vote of 88 to 9 after receiving House approval, would fund the federal government through November 17.
According to VOA News, the bill contains $16 billion in disaster aid sought by Biden but did not include money to assist Ukraine in its conflict against Russia's invasion. Biden stated in a statement issued after the vote that the passage of the measure averted "an unnecessary crisis that would have caused needless suffering to millions of industrious Americans."
If Congress and the president had not approved and signed the measure by Saturday midnight, the federal government would have shut down. More than four million US military service members and government employees would not be paid, although essential services such as air traffic control and official border entry points would continue to be staffed.
Pensioners may not receive their monthly government payments in time to pay their expenses and purchase food, and national parks may close.
For days, everything appeared predestined. The precipitous turn of events began on Saturday when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reversed course and introduced the funding bill that his conservative Republican caucus opposed.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 335 to 91. Even though it does not contain aid for Ukraine, a priority for Biden, Democrats, and many Senate Republicans, more Democrats supported it than Republicans.
Representative Lauren Boebert, a Republican, criticized the ratification of the short-term remedial measure. Right-wing members of McCarthy's party are poised to introduce a motion to depose him as speaker.
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US Government Shutdown
Per Daily Mail, the White House is in regular contact with its personnel and agencies regarding what to expect in the event of a government shutdown. The agencies have begun to develop their own contingency plans in case of a government closure.
Two government organizations have expressed concern that the closure could last for weeks and have drafted contingency plans. One individual stated, "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst."
The impending prospect of the shutdown is already impacting planning, including possible travel next week, for cabinet members and other officials. The White House has acknowledged the "uncertainty'" encircling the situation in communications with its staff regarding closure procedures.
The closure will result in flight chaos, refuse accumulation, closed national parks, and unpaid military personnel. On Friday, twenty-one conservative Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against a last-ditch interim spending measure.
It was a crushing loss for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has endured unrelenting criticism from his party's extreme wing. Without a last-minute agreement, 3.5 million federal employees will be forced to work without pay, including 2 million military personnel and 1.5 million federal civilian employees.
Over half of the civilian workforce will be furloughed, while the remainder will be required to report to work without pay. The Republican Party is currently scrambling to reach an agreement that will prevent widespread turmoil and disruption across the nation.
Related Article : House Fails to Pass Short-Term Government Funding Bill as Shutdown Looms
