Senate Passes $1.2 Trillion Spending Bill, Effectively Averting Partial Government Shutdown

The Senate passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill two hours after the shutdown deadline last night, effectively averting a partial government shutdown.

The Details: The 1,012-page bill passed in a 74-24 vote and will now go to President Biden’s desk for signing. Its passage will fully fund the government until the September 30, 2024 deadline. While Republicans didn’t get all the spending cuts they wanted, a key concession they got from Democrats was a continued blocking of funding to the controversial Gaza-based United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

For Context: The bill was unveiled very early Thursday. On Friday, the House passed the bill in a 286-134 vote. The Senate’s approval ends an intense months-long negotiation between Democrats and Republicans. Several stopgap measures have been passed in lieu of a final agreement since the previous September 30 deadline.

Republican Criticisms: Many Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who filed a motion to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson, have criticized the bill. Among Republican concerns are that the bill was unveiled in a last-minute fashion that made it difficult to read through before Friday, and the allocation of budget to certain projects regarding matters like immigration.

How The Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) promptly described the bill as “controversial” and noted the “brief partial government shutdown.” The Hill (Center bias) noted that the bill was passed shortly after the deadline. CNN (Lean Left bias) did not include this context.