US Senate passes temporary funding bill to avoid partial government shutdown

The US Senate will prepare a temporary spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday.

“Time is not a luxury that Congress has right now,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. He said lawmakers in the upper chamber would spend the next few days trying to reach a deal that Republicans and Democrats alike could support.

Congress must pass a spending bill before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1 to avoid furloughing thousands of federal workers and shutting down a wide range of government operations weeks before the Nov. 5 election.

A bill that would have combined six months of funding with controversial election law changes opposed by Democrats failed in the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson said after the vote that he would try another approach, but gave no further details.

The two sides are also at odds over the length of the temporary funding. Johnson has argued for a six-month extension, which would take the issue off the table until next spring, when his Republicans could control both the White House and Congress.

Democrats are pushing for a shorter, three-month extension that would force Congress to take up the issue later this year, when Democratic President Joe Biden is still in the White House and Democrats still control the Senate.

A prolonged extension of the current $1.2 trillion funding plan would also hamper government operations by preventing agencies like the Defense Department from launching new projects.

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