UPDATE (Dec. 21, 2024, 12:46 p.m. ET): The White House announced Saturday morning that President Joe Biden had signed the funding bill.
UPDATE (Dec. 21, 2024, 12:39 a.m. ET): By a 85-11 vote early Saturday morning, the Senate passed the bill funding the government through mid-March.
The House voted Friday to pass a spending bill that will avoid a government shutdown. The legislation passed 366-34, with one member voting present. It now goes to the Senate and, if approved, to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The bill keeps the government funded through mid-March. It also extends the farm bill, offers additional aid to farmers and provides disaster relief to victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The vote concluded an unexpectedly chaotic funding process. Earlier this week, lawmakers unveiled a bipartisan spending deal that quickly received a torrent of criticism from the right. Most notably, billionaire Elon Musk blasted the bill on his X platform Wednesday, making or sharing multiple false claims about its provisions. That afternoon, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance announced their opposition to the bill. Shortly after, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders abandoned the deal they had just negotiated.
On Thursday, Johnson offered a slimmed-down bill that included the funding and the agriculture and disaster aid provisions, with the addition of a provision Trump had demanded: an extension of the debt ceiling through early 2027. Despite Trump’s backing, nearly 40 Republicans voted against the new bill, leaving Johnson no choice but to strip out the debt ceiling provision — a clear defeat for Trump. With House Republicans’ majority even smaller in the next Congress, the chaos Capitol Hill saw this week is unlikely to abate in the new year.
