WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine)- Just hours before the midnight deadline, legislation to prevent a shutdown of the federal government was approved by the House on Friday.
The stopgap legislation, which would finance the government through mid-December — beyond the midterm elections — was approved by the House 230-201.
Joe Biden, the president, will now get the bill. For there to be no shutdown on Friday, he must approve it before the end of the day.
After several hiccups this week about energy permitting reform, the Senate voted 72–25 to move the bill on Thursday afternoon, according to ABC NEWS.
Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, agreed to remove the clause from the continuing measure, which was challenged by some liberals and most Republicans. As a result, the legislation advanced. The 25 “no” votes were all cast by Republicans.
The bill also includes a 5-year extension of user fees for the Food and Drug Administration, an additional $12 billion in economic and military aid for Ukraine, $1 billion in heating and utility aid for low-income households, and $20 million to address the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi.
The bill also provides funding for FEMA’s primary disaster relief fund, which received a boost in the wake of Hurricane Ian’s devastation of southwest Florida and Hurricane Fiona’s destruction of Puerto Rico.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., underlined some of the emergency funding incorporated in the measure, including funding for Ukraine and assistance with the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, in floor remarks shortly prior to the vote. She also mentioned a modest sum of money that could be used right now to help with Hurricane Ian’s recovery efforts, but she also said that additional money would probably be required.
The billions of funds the White House wanted to sustain its COVID-19 response are not mentioned in the bill. $22.4 billion was proposed by the Biden administration for treatments, vaccinations, and cutting-edge research.
Just before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said that “millions and millions of people can breathe easy.”
In an effort to gain control of the House following the November midterm elections, Republicans sought to have the continuing resolution expire earlier than mid-December.
Senator Schumer stated on Thursday that the Senate will not meet again until November 14 in order to conduct its next vote. This would give senators time to conduct campaigning in their home states up until election day.
The Senate will have a long list of tasks to complete when it reconvenes for the lame duck session. Members will need to approve nominations, finance the government, enact the National Defense Authorization Act, and even introduce legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages.
The final 2 months of the year will be “extremely busy,” according to Schumer.
