The U.S. Congress passed a stopgap funding bill late on Saturday, avoiding a government shutdown that would have forced the closure of a range of public services and left most of the government’s 4 million employees unpaid.
The bill passed the Democratic-controlled Senate by a vote of 88-9 and the Republican-controlled House by a vote of 335-91. It was signed into law by President Joe Biden before the midnight deadline.
The bill funds the government through November 17, giving Congress more time to negotiate a full-year funding agreement. It also includes $16 billion in additional disaster relief funding.
The passage of the bill came after a week of intense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats had initially pushed for a bill that included additional funding for Ukraine, but they dropped that demand in order to secure Republican support.
“The American people can breathe a sigh of relief: there will be no government shutdown tonight,” said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after the vote.
“Extreme MAGA Republicans have lost, the American people have won,” said top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, referring to the “Make America Great Again” slogan used by former President Donald Trump and many hardline Republicans.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that House Republicans would continue to push for cuts to spending and other conservative priorities.
“We should never have been in this position in the first place,” Biden said in a statement after the vote. “House Republicans tried to walk away from that deal by demanding drastic cuts that would have been devastating for millions of Americans. They failed.”
