The Senate gave itself another week to pass a spate of spending bills set to expire this weekend, bringing Washington one step closer to averting a government shutdown.
By a 77-13 vote, the chamber agreed to extend the first of two funding deadlines to March 8 after congressional leaders reached a deal on six of their 12 annual spending bills, four of which will lapse on Friday.
The other six, covering the Pentagon and other more controversial funding, were set to expire next week but will instead be extended to March 22 to allow more time for negotiations.
The bill, known as a continuing resolution, easily cleared the House earlier on Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden before the deadline. However, the one-week window sets up a fresh time crunch as appropriators attempt the move the first tranche of legislation through both chambers.
Given the time constraint, the spending bills are likely to be considered in one large batch. That will be particularly important in the Senate, where it can take a week to pass even simple legislation.
A handful of Senate Republicans threatened to delay passage of the CR on Thursday but relented when leadership granted them four amendment votes. None of those amendments, including a measure by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to bar the Federal Reserve from buying or selling state debt, ultimately passed.
Separately, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told reporters he got a commitment to put his bill compensating victims of radiation exposure on the floor for a vote next week.
The short-term patch is the fourth time Congress has punted on full-year spending since the fiscal year began in October.
Appropriators have made meaningful progress since then, reaching a deal on funding levels for each of the 12 appropriations bills. But negotiations continue over policy riders, many of which Democrats consider to be poison pills.
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is expected to win minor concessions in the spending fight, but he is operating at a disadvantage due to Republicans’ two-seat House majority. A bloc of hard-line Republicans refused to pass the CR, meaning he had to rely on Democratic votes.
Text for the first six spending bills are expected to be released by the weekend.
