President Biden signed a temporary spending bill that will push the ongoing federal budget battle into the next year.
Biden signed the bill Thursday after it was passed by both the House and Senate this week with bipartisan support.
The spending measure — conceived to avoid a government shutdown — will allow the government to stay open through the holiday season.
While a more long-term solution is debated, the spending measure will maintain current government funding for approximately two months.
House Speaker Mike Johnson championed the spending package, and it passed 336 to 95 — just two Democrats voted against the bill, along with 93 Republicans.
It also received votes from all but 10 Republicans and one Democrat in the Senate, passing on Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described Wednesday as ‘a very, very good night for the American people’ before announcing a government shutdown had been avoided, which he credited to ‘bipartisan cooperation.’
‘Obviously, the Republican-led House needed Democratic votes to avoid a shutdown, and I was pleased to see that the speaker was willing to work with Democrats and resisted the siren song of the hard right in the House,’ Schumer said to reporters. ‘And if that continues, we can avoid further shutdowns and finish the work of funding the government.’
Left out of the temporary spending measure was wartime aid for embattled U.S. allies Israel and Ukraine.
The White House is requesting approximately $106 billion in aid for the two nations as Israel continues its ground invasion of Gaza and Ukraine continues its war of defense against neighboring Russia.
Biden signed the bill while still in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Biden’s team announced the development late Thursday night after the president signed the bill at the Legion of Honor Museum, where he was hosting APEC summit attendees.
