90-6 vote comes nearly two months before fiscal year’s end
The Senate in an overnight vote Saturday approved a short-term measure to fund federal agencies into early December, moving to avoid a government shutdown during the middle of campaign season. The 90-6 vote came nearly two months before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
The late-summer action on a funding fix is unusual. Congress typically waits until the final days or hours of a funding deadline to pass short-term patches; this time senators acted well before the fiscal year ends, and the lopsided vote reflected lawmakers’ wariness of another closure after two historic shutdowns this past year.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune wanted the funding resolved before senators went home for the next five weeks to focus on their reelection campaigns and other matters. The measure got caught up with other issues that pushed votes into the night, but it drew broad bipartisan support before passing 90-6.
The bill now heads to the House, which will also have to approve the measure when members return from their August recess before it can go to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
MSI previously reported that key senators on Aug. 2 unveiled the short-term spending bill that would set the next federal funding deadline for Dec. 11, and that House Republicans had set an earlier vote on a stopgap through Dec. 4. Saturday’s approval advanced that effort to the House, which must pass the measure before it can go to the president’s desk.