Senate Approves Legislation for Government Funding, Avoiding Partial Shutdown

Credits: Reuters

The Senate passed a bill to fund the government early on Saturday morning. This avoids a partial shutdown and ends a long fight that’s been going on for months. Next, the bill goes to President Joe Biden to sign, which he’s expected to do on Saturday.Joe Biden to sign, which he’

This vote is a big deal in Congress because it closes a process that’s been going on for a while. There have been disagreements between political parties, and the House saw a change in leadership last year.

The Senate (Credits: WISH-TV)

Even though the Senate voted after midnight, it stops any gap in funding. Now, the government has money until the end of the fiscal year. The Senate vote happened after a tough day in Congress. It shows how close the votes are in the House and the Senate and how much tension there is among lawmakers.

Right after the House voted for the bill, a Republican tried to remove the Speaker. Although this doesn’t require immediate action, it is a severe challenge to the speaker’s authority.

The Senate vote was delayed for hours because Republicans wanted to add some changes to the bill. These changes made it hard for some Democratic senators to vote.

The bill covers many important government departments, including Defense, Homeland Security, Health, Education, and State. The bill was released just before 3 a.m. on Thursday, and it’s long, over 1,000 pages.

Senator Schumer said they got the bill just in time because there wasn’t much time left before the government would shut down. He said Congress needs to pass this bill quickly to avoid a shutdown.

Peaceful Protest (Credits: NDTV)

After avoiding shutdowns several times with temporary bills, Congress finally passed a big bill in March to fund many government agencies for the rest of the fiscal year.

The Speaker of the House, who took over after the previous Speaker left, has a tough job because many in his party are unhappy with how he handled the funding fight. Some members of Congress are dissatisfied with the bill. Progressives and far-right members criticized it for different reasons.

The bill also includes funding changes regarding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which has caused some controversy.

Although there’s been talk about changing the Speaker of the House again, many Republicans don’t want another big fight over leadership.