Government shutdown temporarily averted hours before deadline

Congress has passed another bill to fund government agencies till February 18, and temporarily avert a government shutdown.

The bill was passed just hours before funding was going to stop on Friday. In a 69-28 vote, the Senate accepted the bill approved earlier by the House 221-212. It will now head to President Biden for signing.

A costly government shutdown would have resulted in the closure of parks and museums, and millions of public workers would have been left unpaid before Christmas and the New Year.

This is the second temporary funding approved by Congress this year. Senate Republicans wanted Biden’s vaccine mandates on businesses removed, but their attempt to add an amendment was stopped by Senate Democrats.

Things are set to heat up further in the Senate as the “Build Back Better Act” is set to be voted around December 13.

President Biden’s promises to the far-Left with his Socialist Spending Package have created a lot of rifts within the Democratic Party. The thin Democratic majority in the Senate will be tested this winter.