Maine (WABI) – Congress has avoided a government shutdown just weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
The House and Senate gave swift approval Wednesday to a bill that keeps federal agencies funded.
The Senate voted to approve the measure shortly after the House passed it earlier in the afternoon.
The funding bill generally funds agencies at current levels.
Speaker Mike Johnson touted the measure as doing only what’s absolutely necessary in a bid to win over conservatives.
Lawmakers now face another difficult round of fiscal negotiations at the end of the year.
TV5 asked Senator Angus King today how he felt about this deal only going through December 20.
“It’s disappointing and frustrating and unnecessary. The the Appropriations committees in both houses have essentially done their work. Plus, we started this budget year with with what they call the topline numbers, agreed to between Speaker McCarthy and the president a year and a half, two years ago. So there was no debate about what the numbers should be. It was just a question of allocation within those numbers and those and the work is done,” King said.
“It’s totally unnecessary that we’re having this continuing resolution and putting everything off. We’re not going to know anything in December that we don’t know now,” King adds.
Senator Susan Collins delivered remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday ahead of the vote saying “I rise to urge passage of the government funding measure that was approved by the House of Representatives earlier today. The bill, which is known as a continuing resolution, or a CR, is straightforward. Most important of all, it prevents a government shutdown.”
Collins went on to say “This continuing resolution is not perfect, but it is an effort to extend current year program levels through December 20 with limited exceptions aimed primarily at preventing program disruptions and preparing for the presidential transition and inaugural activities.”
Congressman Jared Golden also released a statement saying “Voting ‘yes’ on this stopgap funding bill was the right call to keep the government open and avoid the chaos of a shutdown.”
The bill now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 15:44:00
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