Congress Passes Bill Averting Government Shutdown

By Albert SebastianJust hours before funding for the federal government was set to lapse, the U.S. Senate approved a stopgap bill that will ensure that federal spending will be able to continue until December 20. The Senate, still reeling from the last government shutdown earlier this year, passed the bill by a vote of 74 to 20, after which it was immediately signed into law by President Trump. The bill had passed the House by the narrow margin of 231-192 on November 21, but negotiations continue on how best to divide the government’s annual budget of more than $1 trillion among different agencies. The dispute over federal funding primarily springs from President Trump’s insistence that financing for construction of a wall along the United States’ southern border take priority. Democrats refuse to consider any spending package that includes funding for the wall, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has insisted that none of the series of long-term spending bills be passed unless there is agreement for all of them. Disagreements over whether the wall should be funded also prompted the last government shutdown, and no lasting solution was reached at its conclusion. Prominent progressives, such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have also refused to support the bill because it provides for an extension of portions of the controversial PATRIOT Act, which has been continuously reauthorized since its initial expiration date of December 31, 2005. Initially, the Senate planned to vote on the bill on the night of November 20, but last-minute concerns on both sides of the aisle delayed the vote to the next day instead. Many members of Congress are concerned that the deadline the stopgap spending bill places on federal funding coincides with the time that the House is expected to vote on articles of impeachment, setting the stage for two major partisan battles.Although the contention over government spending has taken a back seat to the battle over impeachment and the upcoming presidential election, it is equally as important. Government shutdowns are disastrous for the country’s economy, and the success or failure of the government to pass a longer-lasting spending bill could have far-reaching implications.Sources:https://nyti.ms/336GMNJhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/11/21/senate-passes-short-term-spending-bill-sending-legislation-trump-hours-ahead-shutdown-deadline/#comments-wrapperhttps://www.cnn.com/2019/11/21/politics/senate-government-shutdown-deadline/index.html