By Maribel Velazquez
Updated: Dec 21, 2024, 02:13 AM EST Published: Dec 20, 2024, 18:51 PM EST
Hours before the midnight deadline to avoid a federal government shutdown, the United States House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill to extend government funding through March. Hours later, the Senate approved the legislation.
The vote in the House, which was 366 to 34, comes after a political crisis and several internal fights in the Republican Party over a spending plan. Although a complicated outlook was looming, hours before government funding expired, a step forward was taken.
HE needed a two-thirds vote because the bill reached the floor through a fast-track process. Once in the Senate, approval was by a vote of 85 to 11.
The latest plan would extend government funding through March and includes disaster relief and agricultural provisionsbut it does not include a suspension of the debt limit, which President-elect Donald Trump has been demanding Republicans address.
On Wednesday, the president-elect issued a threat against “any republican” to vote in favor of a financing bill without an extension of the debt limit; On Friday, 170 House Republicans did just that.
“We are very grateful that tonight, in a bipartisan manner and with an overwhelming majority of votes, we passed the American Relief Act of 2025. This is a very important law”said the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson to the press after the vote. “It funds the government, of course, until March 2025. That was a big priority for us.”
Michael Johnson He also promised that “things are going to be very different” when Trump comes to power and the Republicans gain control of the Senate.
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