A $1.2 trillion budget bill to finance more than half of the government was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate early on Saturday, preventing a government shutdown. The bill was sent to President Biden's desk mere hours after a midnight deadline.
The historic day on Capitol Hill culminated in the 74-to-24 vote that ended at two in the morning. The day started with a significant bipartisan vote to move the proposal through the House quickly, which sparked a conservative backlash and led one Republican to declare that he would run for Speaker Mike Johnson's position.
After intensive wrangling to set up a series of highly fraught votes on suggested amendments to the law that Republicans had requested and that threatened to send the country into a brief partial shutdown into the weekend, the Senate finally took action more than 12 hours after the House vote.
Shortly after the deadline of midnight, the White House released a statement stating that government personnel had "ceased shutdown preparations" in expectation of the measure being signed by Mr. Biden later on Saturday. However, the postponement served as a fitting conclusion to a torturous round of discussions that put the government on track to eventually fund through September 30, the end of the fiscal year, six months later than expected. It also highlighted the challenges that have dogged spending negotiations from the start.
Earlier on Friday, in a 286-to-134 vote that came down to the wire in the House as leaders scrounged for the two-thirds majority needed for passage, Democrats rallied to provide the support to overcome a furious swell of opposition by conservative Republicans.
The majority leader and Democrat from New York, Senator Chuck Schumer, stated, "It's been a long day, a long week, and a very long few months." However, tonight we have provided the government with a substantial amount of funding for small businesses, healthcare workers, parents and children, military families, and a host of other sectors. Getting a package like this completed under a divided government is no easy task.
Democratic leaders gathered to offer the necessary support to overcome a fierce upsurge in opposition from conservative Republicans earlier on Friday, during a close vote in the House that ended in a 286-to-134 result.
Earlier on Friday, in a 286-to-134 vote that came down to the wire in the House as leaders scrounged for the two-thirds majority needed for passage, Democrats rallied to provide the support to overcome a furious swell of opposition by conservative Republicans.
A minute after the vote, Ms. Greene informed reporters on the House steps that she would not pursue an immediate vote to remove him, but that she had started the process as a "warning" because of his conduct, which she considered to be a "betrayal."
Regarding spending legislation, Ms. Greene remarked, "This was our leverage." "He failed to protect the border at our opportunity to do so. And now, despite lacking the support of the majority, this funding bill passed.
Earlier on Friday, in a 286-to-134 vote that came down to the wire in the House as leaders scrounged for the two-thirds majority needed for passage, Democrats rallied to provide the support to overcome a furious swell of opposition by conservative Republicans.
The 1,012-page legislative package, which combined six expenditure laws into one, was met with resistance in the House by ultraconservatives who felt that it was too liberal. They made a number of furious remarks from the floor, accusing Mr. Johnson of negotiating laws that were, in Ms. Greene's words, a "atrocious attack on the American people."
No other Republican has openly backed Mr. Johnson's removal, and Democrats have hinted in recent weeks that they could be willing to assist in defending him in the event that a G.O.P. challenger emerges to take his position.
Earlier on Friday, in a 286-to-134 vote that came down to the wire in the House as leaders scrounged for the two-thirds majority needed for passage, Democrats rallied to provide the support to overcome a furious swell of opposition by conservative Republicans.
However, the speaker paid a heavy political price for passing the law since she had to break a sacred but unwritten taboo among House Republicans, which Ms. Greene hinted to, prohibiting her from introducing legislation that does not have the backing of the majority of her colleagues. Less than half, or 101 Republicans, voted in favor of it.
Democrats were thus left with the task of providing the majority of the votes needed to pass the bill.
The Democratic leader of the House, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, told reporters at the Capitol prior to the vote, "Once again, it's going to be House Democrats that carry necessary legislation for the American people to the finish line."
Suggested:
The $1.2 trillion package to finance more than half of the government was approved by the Senate with an overwhelming majority vote, sending it to President Biden's desk after hours of deliberation.
