Senate passes stopgap funding bill to avert government shutdown, sending it to Biden’s desk

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the stopgap funding bill passed by the Senate Wednesday night, punting the GOP’s spending fight and the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays.

Wednesday’s bipartisan vote was 87-11, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat — Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado — voting against the bill.

“Because of bipartisan cooperation, we are keeping the government open without any poison pills or harmful cuts to vital programs — a great outcome for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said before the vote.

The short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, cleared the House on Tuesday on a lopsided 336-95 vote, with all but two of the no votes coming from Republicans.

“If the speaker is willing to work with Democrats and resist the siren song of the hard right in the House,” Schumer continued, “then we can avoid shutdowns in the future and finish the work of funding the government.”

Without the CR, government funding would have run out late Friday. New House Speaker Mike Johnson’s staggered, or “laddered,” CR would fund part of the government — including the Agriculture, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs departments — through Jan. 19 and fund the Defense Department and remaining parts of the government through Feb. 2.

Passing a two-part CR that funds the government into the New Year will prevent Congress from adopting yet another massive omnibus spending package right before Christmas, argued Johnson, R-La.

The CR is “clea…..