(Washington Insider Magazine) -On Thursday, Congress avoided government shutdown a day before the funding deadline. This remarkable turnaround was possible because of Republican demands for defunding vaccine mandates from Biden Administration.
After the House had voted mostly along party lines for funding the government at its current level through February 18, the Senate took up and passed the continuing resolution. The bill passed the 60-vote threshold in a bipartisan vote of 69 to 28, and it was also avoided from filibustering. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden, who has indicated that he will sign it into law.
A conservative push to repeal the federal vaccine mandates for workers in the private sector and employees of the health care system led to the fight over funding. The GOP senators who spearheaded the effort offered an ultimatum: Let a simple majority vote on an amendment to that effect, or they would block immediate consideration of the continuing resolution. Funding will likely be suspended through the weekend if there is no speedy process.
The GOP requested that Democrats give in to their request. This was especially true since the Senate’s likelihood of the amendment being passed was significantly reduced by the absence of a few Republicans, even though one of them voted for it.
Before the votes, Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York stated that “With this agreement, there will not be a government shutdown.” “I am happy that cooler heads prevailed in the end. “The government will remain open.”
The Senate first voted on the GOP amendment by Sen. Roger Marshall (Kansas) and Sen. Mike Lee (Utah), which would prohibit money from the continuing resolution for funding mandates set forth by Biden. These include vaccination requirements for large-company workers and employees of health care who are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. If they aren’t vaccinated, workers have the option of having frequent testing.
“It’s wrong, and it’s immoral. It’s not right to tell someone that if they don’t do what you want, they will lose their job,” Lee said, noting that he was vaccinated before the vote. It’s not moral, and it’s certainly not constitutional.
The amendment was defeated by 50 to 48 votes, with the 49 votes required for adoption falling short of 51 votes. Democrats did not support the GOP provision. Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia had indicated an openness to the amendment earlier but ultimately voted for his party.
The Senate then proceeded to the final consideration of the funding measure for the government. It passed easily in the upper chamber, putting any fears of a shutdown to rest.
The continuing resolution’s approval is a significant, necessary item Congress must pass before the holiday recess. However, lawmakers must still consider the debt ceiling increase by December 15, a defense policy bill, and the Democrats’ broad social spending legislation. The latter could be put off until next year if Senate Democrats don’t agree in the next few days.
