JUST IN: U.S. Senate Approves Government Funding Bill Just in Time to Avoid Shutdown — White House Ceased Shutdown Preparations

The U.S. Senate passed the continuing resolution early Saturday morning, sending it to Joe Biden for his signature.

The Senate approved the bill with an 85-11 vote, following the House’s passage by a 366-34 margin.

This swift legislative action came just past the deadline, around 12:30 a.m.

The legislation, now en route to President Joe Biden’s desk, extends federal funding through March 14, 2025, and allocates over $100 billion for disaster relief and agricultural aid.

“At midnight, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations,” according to AP.

The White House, anticipating a potential shutdown, had initiated preparatory measures but ceased these actions following the bill’s approval. Joe Biden is expected to promptly sign the legislation.

The bill’s passage follows a tumultuous week in Congress, marked by intense negotiations and interventions from prominent figures, including President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.

An earlier agreement by Schumer-Johnson was derailed after Trump and Musk criticized the deal, leading to significant revisions in the proposed legislation.

The final package allocates $100 billion for disaster relief and $10 billion for farmers, while extending expiring farm and food aid programs.

Notably, it excludes provisions for a debt ceiling increase, a point of contention advocated by Trump but ultimately omitted to secure bipartisan support.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who faced criticism from both Trump and Musk during the negotiation process, managed to rally support from all Democrats. The House passed the measure with a 366-34 vote.

Johnson addressed the press following the vote:

“We are really grateful that tonight, in bipartisan fashion, with an overwhelming majority of votes, we passed the American Relief Act of 2025. This is a very important piece of legislation. It funds the government, of course, until March of 2025. That was a big priority for us.

This is America First legislation because it allows us to be set up to deliver for the American people. In January, we will make a sea change in Washington. President Trump will return to D.C. and to the White House, and we will have Republican control of the Senate and the House. Things are going to be very different around here.

This was a necessary step to bridge the gap, to put us into that moment where we can put our fingerprints on the final decisions on spending for 2025. We also, in this bill, as you know, took care of Americans who desperately needed and deserved the assistance. We had a record hurricane season. Hurricanes Helene and Milton, in particular, did dramatic damage across at least six states—the Carolinas, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee—all the way through. They have been waiting for the federal government to assist.

We did that tonight in this bill. We also took care of our farmers, many of whom were on the brink of collapse because of Bidenomics—exactly because of the inflationary cost of their inputs and the inability they have right now to get loans from the banks and lenders to put their crops in the ground, to put the seeds in the ground in the spring. We had to take care of that, and we did. We are excited about this outcome tonight. We’re grateful that everyone stood together to do the right thing.

Having gotten this done now as the last order of business for the year, we are set up for a big and important new start in January. We can’t wait to get to that point. We encourage swift passage in the Senate now. They need to do their job as the House just did. We will all go home. I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year because I hope not to see you until we can get back over that.

I was in constant contact with President Trump throughout this process. I spoke with him most recently, about 45 minutes ago.

He knew exactly what we were doing and why, and this is a good outcome for the country. I think he certainly is happy about this outcome as well. Elon Musk and I talked within about an hour ago, and we discussed the extraordinary challenges of this job. I said, “Hey, you want to be Speaker of the House? I don’t know. The hardest job in the world.” I think it is. But we’re going to get through this.

We are going to unify this country, and we are going to bring the America First agenda to the people beginning in January. We cannot wait to get started.”

The House just passed the American Relief Act with OVERWHELMING support.

This America First legislation delivers much-needed relief for Americans devastated by the hurricanes and our hardworking farmers, and it sets up President Trump to start delivering on DAY ONE. pic.twitter.com/85fEJT5WIY

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) December 20, 2024

This is a developing story.

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