US Congress votes to avoid looming government shutdown

The US Congress has passed legislation to fund the government through early March, avoiding a partial government shutdown on Saturday.

The House of Representatives passed the short-term funding measure about two hours after the Senate passed it, despite political tensions.

Democrats and Republicans had been far apart in their budget negotiations.

But the deadline and an incoming Washington DC snowstorm hastened speedy passage of the bill.

Once signed into law by President Joe Biden, the $1.66tn (£1.3tn) piece of legislation will punt the fight over government spending into early March.

After senators easily passed the funding extension by a vote off 77 to 18, it sailed through the House by a vote of 314 to 108.

Congressional leaders announced agreement on the measure on Sunday, bucking demands from hard-right conservatives for large spending cuts and their policies prioritised in exchange for their support.

In November, Congress approved a two-part short-term funding measure. Some key funding would run through 19 January, while the rest of government operations would have money to continue until 2 February.

The proposal, devised by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, was an attempt both to woo Democrats by keeping funding levels unchanged and to win over his hardliners.

The latter faction opposes a single government spending bill that they often characterised as bloated. In a nod to their concerns, Mr Johnson began his speakership by vowing not to take up further short-term measures, or continuing resolutions (CRs).

The Louisiana lawmaker said the November measure would give Congress time to work on 12 individual bills to fund the government.

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But time has again run out. Key federal funding - including for agriculture, energy and water, military construction, veterans' affairs, transportation, and housing programmes - is set to expire at midnight on Friday.

With the shutdown deadline looming, the Democrat-led Senate cleared the way this week to quickly advance a CR to extend this funding - as well as the funding that expires in February - into early March.

Getting the bill through the House quickly was poised to be a much stickier task, as House leaders were forced to suspend regular rules and seek to pass the bill with a two-thirds majority vote.

While Republicans control the House by a slim margin, they can afford to lose very few votes if they stick to party lines due to recent retirements and members' medical issues.

That left Speaker Johnson in the unenviable position of needing significant support from his colleagues across the aisle. It resulted in more Democrats than Republicans supporting the legislation, keeping federal funding levels steady and setting up new political tensions.

The last time House Republicans passed a CR with more support from Democrats, it led to the dramatic ousting of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker.

Though some conservatives have warned of similar consequences for their current leader, discussion of such a move has been relatively muted.

That is in part due to inclement weather that narrowed the window to avert a shutdown that Republicans could be blamed for.

Still, hard-line conservatives did not shrink from criticising their Republican colleagues before the vote.

"Here we are again," said Chip Roy, a Texas lawmaker who led the revolt against Mr McCarthy but did not vote for his ouster.

"Catch your flights, get out of Washington DC before the snowstorm comes in, but give them all the money in the world they need."

On Tuesday, the House cancelled votes ahead of a winter storm that brought several inches of snow to the nation's capital.

The snow expected in the region on Friday is likely to be much heavier and, to avoid hundreds of likely flight cancellations, the House has already cancelled Friday votes.

Ahead of the Senate's bipartisan vote on Thursday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed optimism the funding measure could be sent to the president's desk by end of day.

"Avoiding a shutdown is very good news for the country," he said.

"This is what the American people want to see: both sides working together and governing responsibly. No chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown."