Congress averts government shutdown

With just over an hour to spare, the Senate late Thursday night approved a short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown at midnight.

The Senate approved a two-day extension of government funding by voice vote at the end of a dramatic day, when Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and President Obama muscled a $1.1 trillion “cromnibus” package through the House in a 219-206 vote. 

{mosads}Shortly before the dramatic vote, the House approved the stopgap funding bill by unanimous consent to give the Senate more time to consider the main funding package.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the Senate would take up the long-term bill as soon as Friday and seek to wrap up work on it quickly.

“The Senate will vote on the long-term spending bill as soon as possible,” Reid said. “As soon as possible could be tomorrow; it could be two days after cloture is filed on it; it could be a lot of different times. But we’re going to work hard to expedite things.”

Both sides of the aisle have expressed disagreement with elements of the cromnibus plan.

Some Republicans don’t support the bill because they say it doesn’t go far enough to stop President Obama’s executive order on immigration, although it only funds the Department of Homeland Security through February, setting up another fight early next year.

Democrats, meanwhile, have blasted riders attached to the plan that would repeal parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, increase campaign contribution limits and stop the District of Columbia from legalizing marijuana.

Despite aggressive lobbying from the White House, only 57 House Democrats supported the measure in a rare rift between Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Pelosi said she was “enormously disappointed” with the administration’s endorsement of the bill.

There are also objections in the Senate over the cromnibus, which is one reason why Reid had to pass the short-term continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has spearheaded the Democrats’ opposition because of the Dodd-Frank reforms, while Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has raised complaints on the immigration issue.

Senate Democrats will likely need some Republicans to support the long-term measure in order for it to pass. 

The Senate is still debating the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and is expected to pass that measure Friday. The chamber could also pass a tax extenders package and confirm several nominations before adjourning for the year.