Congress passes funding bill to avert government shutdown

The Senate has passed a stop-gap spending bill to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown at the end of the week.

The vote was 87 to 11. 

It will next go to President Joe Biden to be signed. A White House official said Tuesday that the president is prepared to sign the bill if it passes in the Senate and "maintains current funding levels and has no harmful policy riders."

The two-step plan extends funding until January 19 for priorities including military construction, veterans affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department. The rest of the government — anything not covered by the first step — would be funded until February 2.

The proposal does not include additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.

The Senate is voting now on the House-passed stopgap bill to keep the government open, putting Congress on a path to avert a shutdown.

The bill would extend funding until January 19 for priorities including military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department. The rest of the government — anything not covered by the first step – would be funded until February 2. The proposal does not include additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.

Consideration of the stop-gap spending bill was delayed over a vote on a procedural step toward passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) when they return after Thanksgiving, according to Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“I think the leadership felt we should resolve the issue of the NDAA conference before we move on to the continuing resolution," he told reporters. "But we have resolved all of the issues that have kept the NDAA from coming to a vote — except for one, and we're waiting for one Senator to feel comfortable."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that there is an agreement for a vote tonight on the stopgap bill to avert a shutdown. 

“We have an agreement,” Schumer said.

The Senate will soon proceed to a vote on an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul, which will follow a vote on the stopgap bill.

Remember: The House passed the bill Tuesday and President Joe Biden would have to sign the legislation to avoid a shutdown if it passes the Senate. The bill would extend funding until January 19 for priorities including military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department. The rest of the government — anything not covered by the first step — would be funded until February 2. The proposal does not include additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.

All action on the Senate floor has stalled as they inch toward a deal to vote tonight on the stop-gap spending bill ahead of the deadline for a government shutdown, but timing is still up in the air. 

The chamber is in limbo due to Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, demanding a vote on a procedural step toward passing the National Defense Authorization Act.

Wicker told reporters that they are "close" and noted that he is meeting with both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

Senate Minority Whip John Thune and Sen. Tom Carper told reporters that they still hope to vote on government funding tonight. 

Sometimes it feels like Congress is trying to parody itself.

As lawmakers stagger toward the Thanksgiving recess after some of the ugliest and most unproductive weeks in years, the place is coming completely unglued.

Despite the House passing a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open beyond this week, representatives acted out a farce Tuesday. The joke was on Americans deprived of a serious, functioning government.

Kidney shots and cage matches: In one extraordinarily frivolous episode on Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy – until recently the most powerful elected Republican in the country – was accused of delivering a painful blow to Rep. Tim Burchett, one of the GOP rebels who ousted him as speaker. “It was a clean shot to the kidneys,” the Tennessean told CNN’s Manu Raju.

The former GOP leader repeatedly denied the claim, blaming a tight hallway for the collision. Then, in a flash of bravado, McCarthy added: “If I kidney punched someone, they would be on the ground.”

But it wasn’t even the most fiery showdown of the day.

Across Capitol Hill in the world’s so-called greatest deliberative body, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin was spoiling for a prize fight. He told Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to “Stand your butt up!” and challenged him to a bout. Mullin was angry at past tweets in which O’Brien apparently called him a “clown.”

“You want to do it now?” Mullin asked.
“I’d love to do right now,” O’Brien replied from the witness table.

A flabbergasted Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders waved his arms, banged his gavel and complained that he was supposed to oversee a hearing not a cage match.

“God knows, the American people have enough contempt for Congress, let’s not make it worse,” Sanders warned, reminding Mullin he was a US senator.

The normally sleeping confines of the wonkish Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had never seen anything like it. But Mullin, posing as a Sooner State folk hero, explained to reporters he had no choice but to answer the bell. “You don’t do that in Oklahoma. You don’t run your mouth unless you’re gonna answer the call,” said the former Mixed Martial Arts fighter.

A disaster averted — or perhaps just postponed: In a minor miracle, the chaotically dysfunctional House of Representatives did manage to take steps Tuesday to avert a threatened government shutdown, passing a plan to temporarily fund the federal machine. The Senate still needs to approve the measure, which would only delay the next funding deadlines until early next year.

But even the House’s vote exposed the forces that threaten to tear the chamber apart again soon, with 93 Republicans opposing the bill. Conservatives are smarting at rookie Speaker Mike Johnson’s failure to include massive spending cuts that have no chance of getting past the Democratic-run Senate or Biden’s White House and that would guarantee a shutdown that would damage the GOP and bring pain to millions of Americans.

Their recalcitrance meant that Johnson was forced to rely on Democratic votes to get it through the House, using exactly the same maneuver that cost McCarthy his job last month.

So effectively, because the GOP majority in the House is so divided, it’s only operable if Democrats want it to be.

Read more of Collinson's analysis.

President Joe Biden is prepared to sign the House-approved government funding bill if passed by the Senate, a White House official said Tuesday.

“If it passes the Senate, the President will sign this continuing resolution that maintains current funding levels and has no harmful policy riders,” the official said. 

Beyond the pressing government funding fight, the official also called on House Republicans to abandon “extreme, partisan appropriations bills” and work with Democrats on fully-year appropriations bills. The official went on to call on Congress to pass funding for Israel, Ukraine and border security as well.

“Looking ahead, House Republicans must stop wasting time on extreme, partisan appropriations bills that break the bipartisan agreement two-thirds of them voted for and instead work quickly with Democrats on full-year appropriations bills,” the official said. “Congress must also address urgent national security and domestic needs—including funding for Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian assistance, border security, WIC, and other critical priorities that have bipartisan support.”

Several Senate sources say that talks are underway to pass the stop-gap government funding bill tonight and leave town for Thanksgiving, scrapping tomorrow’s session.

Final votes could happen within the next few hours.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the chamber could vote to pass a stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown “as soon as today.”

If the Senate passes the bill, as expected, the measure would next go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Government funding is currently set to expire at the end of the week on Friday, November 17.

Schumer said he will work with Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell “to see if we can come to an agreement to accelerate this bill’s passage.”

“If both sides cooperate, there’s no reason we can’t finish this bill even as soon as today,” he said

Remember: To hold the Senate vote on Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans would have to reach an agreement to expedite the process, which would require unanimous consent from all 100 senators. An objection from any single senator could slow down the timeline.

“No drama, no delay, no government shutdown. That’s our goal. And we hope we have an agreement very soon to avoid a shutdown,” Schumer said.

The House passed the stopgap bill on Tuesday. In the first major test of his leadership, newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson is pursuing an unusual two-step plan that would set up new shutdown deadlines in January and February.

The bill would extend funding until January 19 for priorities including military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department. The rest of the government – anything not covered by the first step – would be funded until February 2. The proposal does not include additional aid for Israel or Ukraine.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota expressed optimism on Wednesday that the Senate could pass the spending bill later in the day. “I don’t think there’s any reason why we couldn’t vote today,” he told reporters.

Asked whether any members of his conference are pushing for amendment votes, which could slow down the process, he acknowledged that there is one – Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky – but indicated that won’t significantly delay final passage.

“We’re not seeing anything out there that would suggest that we couldn’t process this fairly quickly,” he said.