While You Were Sleeping, The Senate Averted a Government Shutdown

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Senate finally approved a mammoth $1.2 trillion spending package to fund the government for the rest of the current fiscal year, successfully staving off a revolt of conservative Republicans.

The 74-to-24 vote finished at around 2 in the morning, which was technically two hours after the midnight deadline to fund the government. Shortly after the Senate passed the deadline, the White House put out a statement saying that the Office of Management and Budget had ceased preparations for a government shutdown, citing “a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant appropriations and the President will sign the bill on Saturday.”

The bill caps a long, contentious process for funding the government during this fiscal year. It began over six months ago, in October 2023, and helped tank the political career of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Several temporary extensions were necessary in recent months to keep the government from entering a shutdown.

The House narrowly reached the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the package Friday morning. A majority of the Republican caucus voted against the deal, with many hard-right Republicans calling it a capitulation to Democrats. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who came to power thanks to anger among right-wing House Republicans over McCarthy’s deal-cutting with Democrats to keep the government open, is now facing a similar revolt from his party.

On Friday, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Johnson of “betrayal of the American people” and promised to begin the process of ousting him. “The Republican speaker of the House handed over every ounce of negotiating power to Chuck Schumer and the Democrats and went ahead and funded the government when this was our point of leverage,” Greene said.

But Republicans will get to tout significant funding increases for immigration enforcement, as the funding bill will increase the number of Border Patrol Agents to 22,000. The legislation also eliminates funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which Israel has accused of participating in Hamas’ October 7 attack. Democrats, meanwhile, secured funding increases for early childhood education and cancer and Alzheimer’s research.

“House Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense,” Johnson said after the House vote, calling the bill “the best achievable outcome in a divided government.”

Senate Majority Leader Schumer described the vote as “no small feat” on Saturday. “It’s been a very long and difficult day, but we have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government,” he said after the vote. “It is good for the country that we have reached this bipartisan deal. It wasn’t easy, but tonight, our persistence has been worth it.”