The House and Senate easily passed legislation Friday morning to keep the government funded for one week, a move aimed at buying more time for lawmakers to reach a bipartisan agreement on a spending deal for the rest of the fiscal year.
The House passed it 382-30, showing broad bipartisan support for keeping the government open for another week. Shortly after that, the Senate quickly passed it in a voice vote, by unanimous consent.
The measure now heads to President Trump’s desk for his signature into law, just hours before funding expires at midnight. Without action today, the government would have seen a partial shutdown.
With the immediate threat of a shutdown out of the way, lawmakers will next week get back to negotiating a five-month spending deal that would fund the government until Sept. 30, which is the end of the fiscal year.
Democrats say there are dozens of extraneous provisions they oppose in the long-term deal, such as a move to reverse the Obama-era banking regulation known as the fiduciary rule.
“Democrats continue to work in good faith to develop a bipartisan omnibus that provides sufficient funding for critical priorities and rejects divisive poison pill riders,” Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Friday.
Republicans say Democrats are slow-walking a deal and have even failed to show up at spending talks.
Lawmakers in both parties said they won’t vote for more temporary spending bills and are urging agreement on a final, long-term deal.
