Biden signed the bill to keep government funding and avoid a shutdown

President Biden signed a stopgap funding bill Saturday night, avoiding a government shutdown ahead of a midnight deadline.

A continuing resolution (CR), passed by wide margins in both the House and Senate earlier in the day, would continue to fund the government at current spending levels through mid-November. This includes $16 billion in disaster relief, but no aid to Ukraine or changes in border policy.

“I signed a law to keep the government open for 47 days. There is plenty of time to pass government funding bills for the next fiscal year, and I strongly urge Congress to get to work right away. The American people expect their government to act. Let’s make sure of it,” Biden Wrote in XFormerly known as Twitter.

He added, “The American people expect their government to act. We will ensure it.”

Biden’s signing of the legislation caps a tumultuous few weeks in Congress and a day full of surprises in the Capitol.

Lawmakers entered Saturday morning.

But after the GOP failed a vote on the stopgap bill on Friday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) came up with an idea for a “clean” spending bill Saturday morning. It passed the House on a bipartisan vote of 335-91.

“A few minutes ago on the House floor we overwhelmingly passed the ability to keep the government open for the next six weeks,” McCarthy said at a press conference following the vote.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DNY) praised his party’s work to pass the bill.

“This spending bill is a complete and utter victory for the American people. A complete defeat for radical MAGA Republicans,” Jeffries said at a press conference.

The bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate by a vote of 88-9.

Avoiding a shutdown would have a major impact on government operations and the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

It ensures that military service members are paid, no federal workers are furloughed, food assistance programs continue uninterrupted, national parks remain open and travel is unaffected.

This story was updated at 12:07 p.m.