U.S. House Averts Government Shutdown with Temporary Spending Bill

The temporary bill excludes funding for deep spending for Israel, Ukraine, and the U.S. border with Mexico.

U.S. senators said this week that they would try to pass legislation quickly preventing a partial government shutdown.

“No drama, no delay, no government shutdown. That’s our goal, and we hope to have an agreement very soon,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor.

Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a temporary spending bill that avoided a government shutdown, sending the measure to the Senate.

Current federal funding for federal agencies expires at midnight on Friday.

The House voted 336-95 in favor of the temporary spending bill. The bill extends government funding at current levels through mid-January. That includes funding for military construction, veterans benefits, transportation, housing, urban development, agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and energy and water programs.

The temporary bill excludes funding for deep spending for Israel, Ukraine, and the U.S. border with Mexico.

Passing the measure in the House is a significant win for newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“Making sure that government stays in operation is a matter of conscience for all of us. We owe that to the American people,” Johnson said at a news conference at the Capitol earlier Tuesday.

“This two-step continuing resolution is necessary to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson previously said. “The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded-up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.”

According to the report, the U.S. Senate is expected to take up the vote as soon as possible.

“Right now, we’re not seeing anything out there suggesting that we couldn’t process this fairly quickly,” said Sen. John Thune.

Previously, the government shut down for 34 days in late 2018 and again in early 2019. In September, Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown by passing a continuing resolution.