Washington In order to eliminate the possibility of a government shutdown during the holidays, the Senate passed a bill early Saturday morning that would keep the government running for three more months. The bill will now be sent to President Joe Biden’s desk.
85–11 was the vote.
Hours earlier, the bill was approved by the Republican-controlled House. The White House stated that Biden would sign the bill on Saturday, avoiding the need for millions of government employees, including air traffic controllers, Border Patrol agents, and U.S. troops, to work without pay, even though the final vote officially passed past the midnight deadline to prevent a shutdown.
“Agencies will not shut down and may continue normal operations,” White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Emilie Simons wrote on X.a.
With only one member present and all opposition coming from Republicans, the House vote was 366–34. It brought an end to a turbulent week that hinted at how the incoming Congress would handle a volatile Donald Trump in the White House come January.
The plan eliminates the debt limit extension that President-elect Trump had wanted earlier in the week, funding the government at existing levels through March 14, and contains a one-year agriculture bill and $100 billion in disaster aid.
In response to Trump’s promise on Wednesday to primary any Republican who supported a funding bill without an expansion of the debt ceiling, 170 House Republicans did just that on Friday.
We are truly appreciative that the American Relief Act of 2025 was enacted tonight in a nonpartisan manner with a resounding majority of votes. After the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters, “This is a very important piece of legislation.” Naturally, it provides government funding through March 2025. For us, that was very important.
He promised that when Trump returns and Republicans win the Senate the next year, things will be drastically different around here.
Late Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hailed the Senate’s unanimous decision to bypass the customary obstacles and swiftly approve the funding bill as good news.
House and Senate leaders from both parties reached a deal just three days ago to keep the government running, but Trump and his billionaire friend Elon Musk sabotaged the agreement at the last minute, insisting that the debt limit be extended or eliminated to accommodate Trump’s agenda for the following year.
A backup plan that was trimmed from the original agreement and supported by Musk and Trump was thwarted on the House floor by Democrats and 38 Republicans who opposed the debt extension.
Johnson, who is battling to maintain his position as speaker, had few viable choices as a result. Following almost two hours of private negotiations with rank-and-file Republicans on Friday, Johnson informed his party that he was moving forward with Plan C, which is the identical package that was presented to the floor the day before but does not include Trump’s debt increase.
Johnson assured reporters as he left the private GOP gathering that House Republicans are united and that there will not be a shutdown.
Johnson declared that there would not be a government shutdown and that we would fulfill our responsibilities to our farmers in need of assistance, to the victims of disasters across the nation, and to ensure that the military and other vital services, as well as all those who depend on the federal government for their paychecks, are paid over the holidays.
Johnson claimed to have had conversations with Musk and Trump on Friday. I ve talked to President Trump, in detail, and he knows exactly what we re doing, the speaker said.
Musk appeared to endorse the plan as the House was voting,writing on his social media siteX that Johnson did a good job here, given the circumstances.
The president-elect had chosen to remain silent on the bill, according to another source familiar with his thinking. Trump s preference was still to address the debt ceiling, that source said, adding, Johnson should have listened when the President-elect told him this a month ago. and in all subsequent discussions.
But Trump may be willing to take a win on a funding deal that cuts a significant amount of what he saw as pork, the source continued, noting that the process gave Trump s team insight into where votes are in both parties for dealing with the debt limit next year.
To get around Trump s last-minute demand of raising the debt ceiling, Republicans have instead agreed to commit to slash more than $2 trillion in government spending and tuck a debt hike likelyinto a reconciliation packagenext year, according to multiple lawmakers.
Some Republicans doubt the debt limit pact is worth the paper it’s printed on.
They call that a gentleman s agreement, I think, said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. And there are no gentlemen up here, dude.
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