WASHINGTON — After Congress passed a government financing package, President Joe Biden signed it on Saturday, thereby preventing a shutdown scenario.
The plan contains a one-year agriculture bill, $100 billion in disaster aid, and existing government funding through March 14. President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for an extension of the debt ceiling was not included.
Shortly after the House passed the spending package, the Senate cleared it overnight on Saturday. The House vote was 366-34, and the Senate vote was 85-11.
The law has been signed, according to a White House statement, although Biden has not yet officially commented on the news.
Biden backed the bill that finally cleared Congress, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday.
“It eliminates the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires, provides disaster relief that the President requested for the communities recovering from the storm, and would ensure that the government can continue to operate at full capacity,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Friday, even though it does not include everything we sought.
The signing of the bill ends a tumultuous few days that started when Trump and his ally Elon Musk openly criticized the first bipartisan agreement, thereby destroying it.
Republicans in Congress quickly repeated the two men’s strong opposition to the pact.
Though it was not included in the final agreement, Trump also encouraged Republicans to either raise or remove the debt ceiling.
Trump threatened to hold primaries for Republicans who opposed his push to raise the debt ceiling earlier this week. However, the final bill was still overwhelmingly backed by Republicans.
Following the collapse of the first bipartisan agreement, the House was unable to approve a new financing package on Thursday after it was rejected by a few dozen Republicans and a large majority of Democrats.
Jean-Pierre blasted Republicans on Thursday for sabotaging the first bipartisan accord and accusing them of acting in the wealthy benefactors’ best interests at the expense of struggling Americans.
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