Brief government shutdown ushered in before Christmas as Senate works to advance House bill
The U.S. government is facing a partial shutdown that began at 12:01 on Saturday morning, as Congress failed to pass a stopgap spending measure before the deadline. The Senate is currently working through amendment votes and other considerations to send the measure to President Biden. The stopgap bill is expected to be passed in the Senate in the coming hours, minimizing the disruptions to government functions.
During a partial government shutdown, federal agencies and non-essential services are stopped, while essential functions like national security, border patrol, law enforcement, and disaster response remain active. The initial spending measure, totaling 1,547 pages, included policy provisions and disaster aid, but faced public criticism from billionaire Elon Musk and other conservative critics. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance condemned the measure, leading to a revised proposal by House Republicans.
The revised measure extended current funding levels for three months, included a debt limit suspension for two years, economic relief for farmers, and about $110 billion in disaster aid. However, the bill failed on the House floor as Democrats and some Republicans opposed it. With no agreement between Democrats and Republicans, the government was set to go into a partial shutdown at midnight.
The House passed a third version of the spending bill on Friday, similar to the second version but without the debt ceiling suspension. The bill received broad bipartisan support and approval from President Biden. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed confidence in its passage in the Senate.
As the U.S. faces a partial government shutdown just days before Christmas and New Year’s, the focus remains on resolving the funding issue to ensure minimal disruption to essential government functions. Stay tuned for further updates on this developing situation.
