WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation funding the government through September, the White House confirmed.
Biden expressed gratitude to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other members “for their leadership.”
Earlier Saturday morning, the Senate voted 74-24 to pass a sweeping $1.2 trillion government funding bill after heated last-minute negotiations caused senators to breach the midnight deadline to avert a shutdown.
But the funding lapse was brief and technical, having no meaningful impact as the White House said it had “ceased shutdown preparations” due to a Senate agreement, which came after Republicans demanded votes on a series of amendments.
The legislation passed the House on Friday morning by a vote of 268-134.
Biden’s signing of the measure completes a turbulent government funding process during a divided government, featuring a year of haggling, six months of stopgap bills and intense partisan clashes over money and policy along the way.
The full government will now be funded through the end of September, after Congress passed a previous $459 billion tranche of money earlier this month. The total spending level for the fiscal year is $1.659 trillion.
“Nothing’s easy these days,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told NBC News after midnight while the Senate was voting, but said it was significant for Congress to pass all 12 appropriations bills in a year.
“Given the dysfunction of the House and slim majorities here, you know, there’s something to be said for the fact that we finally got this done,” Murphy said.
The new tranche will fund the departments of State, Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, among other parts of the government that had not yet been fully funded.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said it was “typical” and…
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