Senate Votes to Pass House’s Stopgap Funding Bill, Averting Government Shutdown

by Charlotte Hazard

The Senate voted to pass the House’s stopgap funding bill on Saturday night by a vote of 88 to 9, avoiding a government shutdown that would have occurred at midnight, the end of the fiscal year. The bill will now go to the White House for President Biden’s signature. 

This bill will keep the government open for 45 days. It also includes $16 billion for U.S. disaster relief aid which was requested by President Biden.

The vote in the House was 335 in favor of the measure with 91 opposed. Of the 335 in favor, 209 were Democrats, and of the 91 opposed, 90 were Republicans. 

Illinois Democrat Rep. Mike Quigley was the only Democrat to vote against the measure, citing it failed to provide funding for Ukraine.  

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had made clear that he wanted the House to avoid a shutdown. McCarthy had been trying to pass a continuing resolution (CR) without needing Democrat votes, but in the end, he risked the wrath of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and other conservatives who have threatened to introduce a motion to vacate, by working with Democrats to pass the CR and avoid the shutdown.

Gaetz may yet introduce a motion to vacate, which would set up a vote to see if McCarthy would remain as speaker. 

“We need more time to get the job done,” McCarthy told reporters, according to Fox News. 

“The House is going to act so government will not shut down,” McCarthy stated prior to the Saturday vote. We will put a clean funding stopgap on the floor to keep government open for 45 days for the House and Senate to get their work done,” he added.

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Charlotte Hazard is a reporter at Just the News.
Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Ramaz Bluashvili.