The US Senate reached an agreement just minutes before midnight on Friday to avert a government shutdown. The deal will allow for a vote on the final amendments to a $1.2 trillion spending package this Saturday.
The final vote will take place this Saturday to prevent the United States from entering a partial federal government shutdown. This follows the House of Representatives’ approval of the spending package hours earlier.
Meanwhile, Republican senators will vote on some of their amendments, but this will not pause government operations. It should only take a few hours before President Joe Biden signs the bill into law.
After midnight, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced “an agreement to complete the work of funding the government” on the Senate floor.
Following the announcement, the White House declared it was halting all emergency preparations for a potential shutdown of some government functions.
“There is a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant spending bills, and the president will sign the law on Saturday,” the White House said in a statement.
The Administration asserted that government agencies “will not shut down and will be able to continue their normal operations” when they resume most activities on Monday.
The budget negotiated by the Biden Administration with Democratic and Republican lawmakers increases defense spending by 3%. While the rest of the budget remains largely unchanged, it includes increased funding for education, childcare, and cancer research.
The spending bill passed the House of Representatives hours before the vote with support from Democrats and a sufficient minority of Republicans.
However, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed her dissatisfaction with the deal, calling for the resignation of House Republican Leader Mike Johnson.
The approved budget is the result of months of intense negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders. It includes some concessions to far-right conservatives, but not enough to satisfy them.
For example, the budget suspends funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). And it strengthens border security with Mexico by adding more agents and funding for surveillance.
The 2024 fiscal year began on October 1, 2023, but Democrats and Republicans had failed to reach an agreement. As a result, Congress had approved four stopgap spending bills to avoid an administrative shutdown due to lack of funding.
What was approved at midnight completes the fiscal year’s budget after Congress approved $460 billion two weeks ago, funding roughly 30% of the government. The total spending now exceeds $1.6 trillion.
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