Senate Approves $460 Billion Bill to Prevent Partial Shutdown, Sending It to Biden

The Senate is poised to approve a spending bill, averting a partial shutdown.

On Friday, the Senate granted its final approval to a $460 billion spending bill that will finance approximately half of the federal government through the fall. The legislation has now been forwarded to President Biden for his signature, just in time to avert a partial shutdown.

The vote, with a significant majority of 75 to 22, solidifies a resolution to at least a portion of the spending deadlock that has consumed Congress for months and has repeatedly brought the government to the brink of shutdown. Although funding was set to expire at midnight, the White House announced that preparations for a shutdown had been halted and that President Biden would sign the bill on Saturday.

However, negotiations are still ongoing for spending bills to finance the other half of the government over the same period, including the Pentagon, which must be passed by Congress before March 22 to prevent a shutdown. Several challenging issues, such as funding for the Department of Homeland Security, have yet to be resolved.

The legislation passed on Friday consolidates six spending bills, providing funding until September 30 for numerous federal programs covering agriculture, energy and the environment, transportation, housing, the Justice Department, and veterans.

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, stated, “To those who worry that divided government means that nothing ever gets accomplished, this bipartisan package proves otherwise. It assists parents, veterans, firefighters, farmers, school cafeterias, and more.”

The package adheres to the funding levels negotiated last year by President Biden and the former House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, maintaining spending on domestic programs mostly unchanged. However, funding for veterans’ programs will continue to increase, while military spending is allowed a slight increase.

Divisive Republican policy demands were rejected by Democrats, including an attempt to defund a recent Food and Drug Administration rule that permits the distribution of mifepristone, the first pill in a two-drug medication abortion regimen, through mail and retail locations, as well as efforts to cut and restrict nutritional benefits for low-income families.

Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington and chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, commented, “Today, we have completed the first half of the task — passing a substantial bipartisan package to fund crucial parts of our government. While this may not be the bill I would have personally written, it is a robust bipartisan package that sustains vital resources that have a significant impact on people’s lives.”

House Republicans achieved some minor victories, including modest cuts to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the F.B.I., and environmental programs. However, some of these reductions were much smaller than they initially seemed. They also succeeded in including a provision that limits a policy implemented by the Veterans Affairs Department to prevent veteran suicides. This policy involves flagging the federal gun background check system when veterans are found to lack the mental capacity to handle their own finances.

One Democrat voted against the spending legislation due to the inclusion of this policy. Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, explained his decision, saying, “I am voting no because I refuse to return to a time when the gun lobby could insert gun riders into appropriations bills (which frequently occurred before Sandy Hook). This cannot happen again.”