By a 65 to 27 vote, the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill Thursday night to avert a Friday night government shutdown and finance government operations through March 11th, CNN reports. President Biden will sign the bill tomorrow.
With Democrats down three Senators–Democratic New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján is absent as he gets cancer treatments, California’s Barbara Feinstein is caring for a sick husband, and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly’s wife is ill –the passage of the bill was in question if Republicans had opted to have another temper tantrum, as has become routine.
Democrats have been working on a long-term budget bill, which would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September, but they’ve yet to get significant Republican buy-in.