Congress Sends President Another Stopgap Spending Bill

Congress approved a stopgap spending bill on Thursday, the third in four months, to prevent a government shutdown for another six weeks. Supporters in the House overcame opposition by Republican hardliners and an effort to tie their measures on border security to the budget, the Washington Post reports, after the Senate had voted 77-18 to send the bill to President Biden earlier in the afternoon. The House vote was 314-108, one day ahead of the deadline to keep the government running. "We have good news for America: There will not be a shutdown on Friday because both sides have worked together," Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Again, the deal gives lawmakers more time to negotiate and approve a dozen spending bills that add up to $1.66 trillion, per the New York Times. Funding for many agencies now will run through March 1; the rest of government will have money until March 8, including the Pentagon. Members of both parties said they hope this is the last stopgap bill, conceding that operating under the persistent threat of a shutdown is hard on federal agencies. "We have a lot of work left to do," said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who chairs the Appropriations Committee. "It has to happen in a bipartisan way." (More federal budget stories.)