Biden signs law that prevents government shutdown and ends days of uncertainty in Washington

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation averting a government shutdown before Christmas, ending days of upheaval in Washington after Congress passed a bipartisan budget plan just after the deadline and rejected Donald’s main demand Trump in the negotiations.

The agreement funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion in agricultural assistance.

“This agreement represents a negotiated solution, meaning neither side got everything they wanted,” Biden said in a statement, adding that it “ensures the government can operate at full capacity. “That is good news for the American people.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, had insisted that “we will fulfill our obligations” and that Congress would not allow the closure of federal operations.

But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump insisted the deal include an increase in the government’s borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson’s revised plan passed 366-34, and passed the Senate by a vote of 85-11 after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased preparations for the shutdown.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Johnson, who had spoken with Trump after the House vote, said the outcome was “a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “is certainly happy with this outcome as well.”

The final product was Johnson’s third attempt to achieve one of the federal government’s basic requirements: keeping it open.

The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, facing angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect its next director on January 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an extremely narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little room for error as he attempts to win the president’s gavel.

Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland criticized Republicans for deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the party’s leadership. Others are also signaling their displeasure with Johnson.

However, Trump’s demand was almost an impossible request, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. He knew there would not be enough support within the Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republicans prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing that they must routinely rely on Democrats for votes necessary to maintain routine government operations.

The federal debt stands at about $36 trillion, and rising inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has raised government borrowing costs so much that debt service next year will exceed national security spending. .

The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was in June 2023. Instead of raising the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit until January 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that the United States does not default on its debts.

Some estimate that these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline until the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

Republican leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of the tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a handshake deal to raise the debt limit at the time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

Essentially, it was the same deal that collapsed Thursday night, minus Trump’s debt demand. But it is far smaller than the original agreement Johnson reached with Democratic and Republican leaders: a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was filled with a long list of other bills, including much-criticized pay raises for lawmakers, but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn in, is showing power but also the limits of his influence in Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates matters from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who heads the new Department of Government Efficiency.

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