Biden issues federal funding bill avoiding a government shutdown

US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill to keep the government funded until mid-March, averting a government shutdown after late-night congressional negotiations.

After legislative wrangling dragged on until the last minute amid pressure from President-elect Donald Trump, lawmakers finally approved the bill early Saturday, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown before the Christmas holiday.

Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have been pressuring Republican members of Congress to back down from the settlement.

Members of Congress have been trying for days to reach another deal, with a major government shutdown at stake.

Minutes after the midnight deadline on Friday, senators abandoned the normal procedure to rush the new package to a vote and fund the government through mid-March.

“This agreement represents a compromise, meaning neither side got what it wanted,” Biden said in a statement.

But he noted that the deal rejects the accelerated tax cuts for billionaires that the Republican Party has sought.

The bill’s passage followed weeks of tense negotiations.

“It’s good news that bipartisanship has finally prevailed… It’s a good outcome for America and for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech to the Senate.

The funding package was almost guaranteed to pass in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, especially since the Democratic Party played a crucial role in helping the Republican majority pass the law in the House of Representatives earlier.

However, that didn’t prevent fears that the funding battle could extend into next week, amid senators’ often hesitation in passing complex legislation.

This would have led to the suspension of all non-essential federal government activities, placing about 875,000 employees on temporary forced leave, and forcing about 1.4 million others to work without pay.

Congress’s task of setting government budgets is often fraught with danger, with both houses (the House and Senate) closely divided between Republicans and Democrats.

In what could be seen as a last-minute intervention, President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, his pick to run the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, pressured Republicans to back away from a funding bill they had negotiated with Democrats after tough negotiations.

Two subsequent attempts to reach a compromise failed, forcing Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to spend Friday meeting with his aides to find another way to keep government agencies running.

Failure to pass the funding bill could have frozen non-essential government jobs, with employees in essential sectors such as law enforcement continuing to work without receiving their salaries until government jobs resume.

Also, many national parks, monuments and sites that millions of people are expected to visit in the coming days would be closed.

Lawmakers avoided all the holiday complications by funding the government through March 14 with a $110 billion package that includes disaster aid and financial support for farmers.

The bill that passed is almost identical to one that failed miserably on Thursday, but the latest law did not include a two-year suspension of the government’s borrowing limit, something Trump had demanded.

The influence of Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, with Republicans and Trump has become the focus of the Democrats’ attack on Republicans, amid questions about how an unelected citizen was able to enjoy such power and influence.

There has also been growing anger among Republicans over Musk’s interference after he attacked the government funding deal in a series of posts on X, many of which were inaccurate.

“Last time I checked, Elon Musk didn’t have a vote in Congress,” Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick told CNN.

“Now, he has the power and he will pressure us to do whatever he thinks is right for him, but 760,000 people voted for me to do the right thing for them,” he added.

Trump has made no secret of his willingness to shut down the government unless he gets what he wants, but by passing the funding without taking his priorities into account, he has shown that his outsized influence over Republicans in Congress has limits.

However, Johnson tried to paint a positive picture, telling reporters after the bill passed that January would mark a big change in Washington with Trump back in the White House.

“President Trump will be back in Washington, DC, and in the White House, and Republicans will be in control of the Senate and the House of Representatives… Things will be very different here,” Johnson added.