The measure passed the House and Senate with large bipartisan majorities this week, ensuring the government will not be paralyzed until the end of the holiday season and potentially giving lawmakers more time to resolve their significant differences over government spending levels for the current fiscal year. . Biden signed the bill in San Francisco, where he is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
News of the signing came late at night US time after the president hosted a dinner for ATIS members.
The spending package keeps state funding at current levels for about two more months while a longer-term package is negotiated. It splits the deadlines for passing full-year appropriations bills into two dates: Jan. 19 for some federal agencies and Feb. 2 for others, creating two dates when there would be a risk of a partial government shutdown.
The two-step approach was backed by incoming House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and was frowned upon by many in the Senate, though all but one Democrat and 10 Republicans supported it because it ensures the government won’t shut down for now .
Johnson has vowed not to support any additional stopgap funding measures, known as continuing resolutions. He described the temporary funding bill as setting the stage for a spending “fight” with the Senate next year.
The spending bill does not include the White House’s request for nearly $106 billion in wartime aid for Israel and Ukraine. Nor does it provide humanitarian funding for the Palestinians and other additional requests, including money for border security. Lawmakers are likely to turn their attention more fully to that request after Thanksgiving in hopes of hammering out a deal.
