The Senate approved a temporary, slimmed-down government spending plan early Saturday morning, averting a federal government shutdown.
President Joe Biden signed the bill yesterday, ending a chaotic week at the Capitol.
Lawmakers were forced to fight for a new deal after the election of President Donald Trump. torpedoed a first bipartisan agreement hit earlier in the week. House vote on Trump-approved funding bill failed Thursday evening before the chamber finally approved a revised bill Friday evening.
The legislation funds the government through March 14, setting up a new spending showdown in the early days of the Trump administration. Republican lawmakers also ultimately backed away from a key Trump demand.
Here’s what else is in the bill:
• More funding for disaster relief: The spending bill provides about $100 billion to help Americans trying to recover from multiple natural disasters in 2023 and 2024. The funding is in line with rough projections. Initial request of $100 billion of the Biden administration in November.
• Economic aid to farmers: The bill includes $10 billion in economic aid for farmers, one of the final sticking points in negotiations earlier this week. Agriculture-focused state legislators have argued that the help is desperately needed at a time when American farmers are facing drop in raw material prices and higher costs for supplies.
The spending deal also includes a one-year extension of the Farm Bill – a broad set of measures that govern many agricultural and nutrition assistance programs.
• Maryland Interim Funding: Under the bill, replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland will be fully funded by the federal government. The legislation will also allow the U.S. Treasury Department to recoup money from any settlement related to the bridge collapse to help fund reconstruction.
And here’s what didn’t make the cut:
• Extension of the debt ceiling: The GOP plan that failed Thursday would have suspended the debt ceiling until Jan. 30, 2027, meeting Trump’s main demand in his Wednesday evisceration of the original deal. Republicans are instead considering including an increase in the debt ceiling in a future policy plan next year.
The debt ceiling is currently scheduled to return on January 2. It was suspended as part of the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, which Congress passed in June 2023. Lawmakers would likely have until mid-2025 to address the debt ceiling, since the Treasury Department could temporarily use available liquidity and other measures to continue paying the country’s bills and avoid a first-ever default.
Even though Republicans will control the Capitol and the White House next year, having to tackle the debt ceiling would then add another complex issue to the party’s already full plate, which includes extending tax cuts radical actions of Trump in 2017.
Learn more about the bill, including other priorities that were not retainedhere.