
Senate Passes $1.2 Trillion Funding Bill After Last-Minute Negotiations
The Senate passed a $1.2 trillion funding bill after a brief lapse, marked by intense negotiations and partisan clashes. President Biden will sign it into law.

On a dramatic Saturday morning, the Senate voted 74-24 to approve a comprehensive $1.2 trillion government funding bill. The intense last-minute negotiations led to a breach of the midnight deadline, causing senators to avert a shutdown. However, the funding lapse was brief and technical, with no significant impact due to a Senate agreement that prompted the White House to halt shutdown preparations.
Bipartisan Agreement and House Approval
The legislation had earlier been passed by the House with a 268-134 vote on Friday morning. The bill is now set to be signed into law by President Joe Biden, who has confirmed his intention to do so. The completion of this funding process comes after a turbulent period marked by a year of negotiations, six months of stopgap bills and intense partisan clashes over money and policy.
Complete Funding Through September
Following President Biden's approval, the full government will be funded until the end of September. This follows the prior approval of a $459 billion tranche of funds earlier in the same month. The total spending level for the fiscal year is set at $1.659 trillion.
Satisfaction Amid Challenges
Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., expressed the difficulty of the process, stating "Nothing's easy these days," but also highlighted the significance of Congress passing all 12 appropriations bills in a year. He emphasized the importance of achieving this feat despite the challenges posed by a dysfunctional House and slim majorities in the Senate.
Allocation and Impact
The new tranche of funding is set to cover various departments, including State, Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, among others, that had not yet been fully funded. The completion of this process provides stability and support for the functioning of these crucial government departments.
Narrowly Averted Shutdowns and Last-minute Agreements
The divided Congress narrowly avoided multiple shutdowns, passing four stopgap bills that extended the deadline. The unusual lateness of the funding measures negotiations, occurring nearly six months into the fiscal year, posed significant challenges. The bill, released on Thursday and passed by the House on Friday morning, left little time for the Senate to act.
Challenges and Accusations
The negotiations faced several challenges, with Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., accusing vulnerable Democrats in key Senate races of scuttling the agreement by avoiding votes on crucial amendments. However, these claims were met with strong rebuttals, with Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat in a tight re-election race, dismissing the accusations as baseless.
Expressing Frustration
Senators expressed frustration at the repeated avertion of funding lapses throughout the fiscal year, while struggling to do so on the final one. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, vividly conveyed her exasperation, likening the situation to having "too much sugar and bad pizza," and the operating style to "a mess of a candy pizza muddle" akin to that of teenage boys.
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