The United States government is funded through December 23 with approval of a stopgap funding bill Thursday.
The bill gives lawmakers time to negotiate and approve a full government spending bill. The stopgap bill, which passed the U.S. Senate with a 71-19 vote, is on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk today.
Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia responded to passage of the stopgap funding bill.
“We’re glad to have voted for today’s continuing resolution, which will keep the government open and allow Congress additional time to come to an agreement on critical government funding legislation,” Warner and Kaine said in a press release late Thursday. “Government shutdowns are pointless and painful for the Americans who are forced to work without pay or forced to forgo essential government services. We will continue pushing to pass a full government funding bill ahead of the new December 23 deadline. Failing to do so could stall progress and undercut many of the key investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law.”
A $1.7 trillion full spending bill is on the table for Democrats and Republicans to negotiate and keep the federal government funded through September 2023.
According to Reuters, the last time a government funding lapse was permitted was 35 days from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019, over then-President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Two other, brief shutdowns happened during Trump’s presidency.
In 2013, while Barack Obama was president, the government shutdown from October 1 to 17.
Previous to that shutdown, Bill Clinton was president when funding ceased for 21 days from Dec. 16, 1995 to Jan. 6, 1996.
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Chris Graham
