Congress has voted to stave off a government shutdown at the end of this month, clearing a stopgap funding bill for President Trump’s signature.
The Senate passed the bill Thursday afternoon by a vote of 82-15 after rejecting an amendment by Republican Sen. Rand Paul to cut spending in order to pay for the measure.
The House passed the measure last week and Trump is expected to sign it ahead of Sept. 30, which is the end of the fiscal year.
The stopgap bill keeps the government running until Nov. 21, providing lawmakers with less than two months to come to an agreement and pass fiscal 2020 spending measures.
Last year, partisan gridlock and Trump’s desire for border wall funding resulted in a 35-day, partial government shutdown.
Both parties are eager to avoid a repeat shutdown this year but the atmosphere for bipartisan cooperation is quickly disappearing.
House Democrats on Tuesday announced they are launching a formal impeachment probe into President Trump following a whistleblower complaint about his conduct during a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The two parties are already battling over wall funding. Senate Democrats oppose a move by Senate Republicans to shift billions of dollars in fiscal 2020 funding to help pay for the border wall.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has advanced several spending bills but has to work out disagreements on others before they get a floor vote.
The GOP-led Senate will then have to work out a legislative compromise with the House, which is run by Democrats.
The two parties have already worked out a two-year deal on overall spending limits.
“We have a long way to go in fulfilling our duty to fund the government, but I’m hopeful we can come together in a deliberate, bipartisan manner to complete our FY20 process for the good of the American people,” Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby said.
