President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill into law averting the threat of another government shutdown just hours before a midnight deadline.
The stopgap measure approved Thursday by Congress will keep the government funded for just a few more weeks however, with the first batch of appropriations packages set to expire on March 8 and the remaining coming due on March 22.
Friday’s continuing resolution marks the third time Congress has kicked federal appropriations down the road since House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) picked up the gavel in October 2023.
Johnson and the other “Big Four” congressional leaders met with Biden at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the appropriations process, in addition to the president’s supplemental funding request for new Ukraine aid and negotiations surrounding immigration policy reform.
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White House officials said Biden pulled Johnson, who has consistently foiled Biden’s bipartisan border security overtures in recent months, aside for a one-on-one “moment” after the group meeting but declined to say what the pair discussed.
Following the meeting, Johnson told reporters that avoiding a government shutdown was his “first responsibility,” followed closely by “making sure [the border] is secure” and “investigating” another trance of Ukraine aid.
