Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill to Keep Government Funded and Prevent Unnecessary Crisis for Millions of Americans

In a dramatic turn of events, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill Saturday evening to keep the government funded for 45 days, just three hours before a midnight deadline. The bill passed with an overwhelming majority of 88 to 9, preventing an unnecessary crisis that would have caused pain to millions of hardworking Americans.

The bill, which was passed earlier by the House with a substantial bipartisan vote of 335-91, will keep the government funded at existing levels through November 17th and authorize additional disaster relief money. This will give Congress more time to reach a full-year funding agreement.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law, which will prevent active-duty troops from not getting paid, travelers from experiencing airport delays, and millions of women and children from losing access to vital nutrition assistance.

In a statement after the passage, President Biden said, “Tonight, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate voted to keep the government open, preventing an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted needless pain on millions of hardworking Americans.”

The challenge of reaching a full-year funding agreement before the new November deadline still remains, but the passage of the bill will ensure that millions of Americans will not have their pay put in jeopardy.