Surprise: No Government Shutdown as Congress Approves Last-Minute Funding Bill

Congress beat the clock Saturday with just hours to spare in a race against time to save the federal government from shutting down at midnight. 

The Senate gave final approval, 88-9, late in the evening to a temporary funding plan passed by the House several hours earlier, capping a chaotic day filled with uncertainty, intraparty feuding, partisan rancor, sophomoric shenanigans and — ultimately — a rare show of bipartisanship. 

Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana, Ted Cruz of Texas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Mike Lee of Utah, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Eric Schmitt of Missouri and J.D. Vance of Ohio were the only senators to vote against the government funding bill.

Still, the chamber overwhelmingly approved the measure, sending it to the White House for the president’s expected signature to keep money flowing to federal agencies, their employees and vital services for the next seven weeks.

“It’s been a day full of twists and turns, but the American people can breath a sigh of relief,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor shortly after passage. “There will be no government shutdown.”

It was an unexpected end to what Democrats had argued for weeks would be a House Republican shutdown. But it was also not without drama.

Senate Democrats had planned to hold a procedural vote on their bipartisan bill to fund the government, but due to some GOP opposition, that proposal could only end a shutdown, not prevent one, as the chamber could pass it no sooner than Monday.

But Senate Republicans warned that the procedural vote would fail after meeting privately Saturday afternoon, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announcing that his conference wanted to see if the House could pass its bill before moving forward in the Senate.

One key difference between the House and Senate versions is that the House’s proposal included no funding for Ukraine. But with representatives leaving the Capitol after an overwhelming bipartisan vote, the House’s bill was the only proposal in town that could clear both chambers before midnight.

“We’re in a take-it-or-leave-it situation,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, acknowledged. “My goal has always been to prevent a government shutdown — they are never productive — and this bill would do that.”

Senate Democrats held a special caucus meeting later Saturday afternoon to discuss Ukraine aid. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., signaled that the big fight over Ukraine funding will come when Congress takes up the administration’s supplemental funding request.

“I’m sure you’ll hear from the president, the commander in chief, of how we will make sure there will be uninterrupted aid to Ukraine,” she said after leaving the meeting. “Uninterrupted aid. That is going to be our No. 1 goal, and that’s what we concluded in that room. The big fight is for the money that they’re gonna need to keep going.”

But Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., delayed consideration of the bill for more than an hour over his objections to a lack of Ukraine aid, forcing senators to stay in Washington for a vote that didn’t begin until around 8 p.m. local time.

Schumer said he and McConnell agreed to keep fighting for more Ukraine aid, and House Democratic leaders released a statement Saturday night announcing that they expect Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to hold an up-or-down vote on supporting Ukraine.

The real action Saturday, after all, was centered in the House, where McCarthy risked his leadership position by offering a bill through an expedited process that needed Democratic votes to pass a two-thirds threshold. Lacking enough Republican votes to move a party-line bill, McCarthy had no choice but to work with Democrats — and make an apparent deal on additional Ukraine aid in the near future.

At one point in the day, a House office building was evacuated after a progressive House lawmaker pulled a fire alarm — by accident, he said — around the time that Democrats were stalling a final vote on the government funding bill so they could closely review its language.

“I would like to support” the short-term spending patch, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said ahead of the House vote, “but I don’t trust these guys. I want to see whether there’s anything they snuck in there.”

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., a former middle school principal, pulled the fire alarm, triggering ridicule and scrutiny among Republicans. “An investigation into why it was pulled is underway,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, chairman of the House Administration Committee.

Lindsey McPherson and Stephen Neukam contributed to this report.