President Joe Biden on Friday signed a short-term spending measure that keeps one set of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another set through March 22 — officially staving off a partial government shutdown that would have started on Sunday.
Quick Read
- President Joe Biden signed a short-term spending measure on Friday, averting a partial government shutdown that would have begun on Sunday.
- The temporary funding extends operations for some federal agencies until March 8 and others until March 22, providing more time for Congress to finalize annual spending bills.
- The current fiscal year, ending on September 30, has been sustained through multiple short-term measures due to Congress’s failure to pass full-year budgets on time.
- Biden emphasized that the agreement is a temporary solution and urged Congress to work towards long-term funding.
- The House approved the extension with a 320-99 vote, showing strong Democratic support but a divided Republican stance.
- The Senate also passed the bill with a 77-13 vote, following the House’s approval.
- Both the House and Senate plan to address a package of six spending bills next week before the March 8 deadline, aiming to fund the remaining government sectors by March 22.
The Associated Press has the story:
Biden signs short-term spending bill to avoid partial govt shutdown
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Joe Biden on Friday signed a short-term spending measure that keeps one set of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another set through March 22 — officially staving off a partial government shutdown that would have started on Sunday.
The measure gives lawmakers some more time to draft and pass spending measures to keep the federal government operating for the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. Washington has been running on a series of short-term measures because Congress, as it routinely does, had failed to enact full-year spending bills on time.
“This bipartisan agreement prevents a damaging shutdown and allows more time for Congress to work toward full-year funding bills,” Biden said in a statement Thursday evening after both the House and Senate cleared the temporary fix. “That’s good news for the American people. But I want to be clear: this is a short-term fix—not a long-term solution.”
The House acted first on Thursday. The vote to approve the extension was 320-99. It easily cleared the two-thirds majority needed for passage. Democrats overwhelmingly voted to avert a partial shutdown. But the vote was much more divided with Republicans, 113 in support and 97 against. The Senate then took up the bill and approved it during an evening vote of 77-13.
Next week, the House and Senate are expected to take up a package of six spending bills and get them to the president before March 8. Then, lawmakers would work to fund the rest of the government by the new March 22 deadline.
