Both houses of US Congress passed a three-month funding bill that will avert a government shutdown that would have disrupted everything from law enforcement to national parks.
The Democratic-controlled Senate, in an 85-11 vote, passed the bill to continue funding the US government 38 minutes after it lapsed at midnight local time (0500 UTC/GMT).
Earlier Friday night, with a 366-34 vote, the House approved the last-minute plan from House Speaker Mike Johnson that will now keep federal operations and disaster aid temporarily funded.
The passing provided immediate relief for about 800,000 federal workers who were at risk of being sent home for the Christmas holidays without pay.
Johnson had said Congress would "meet our obligations" and not allow federal operations to cease ahead of the winter holidays.
Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Senate that it was "good news that the bipartisan approach in the end prevailed ... It's a good outcome for America and the American people."
Week of tense negotiations
The late-night vote followed a frantic week that saw President-elect Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk — who is set to be Trump's efficiency czar — defeat an initial bipartisan deal, which threw Congress into disarray.
That sparked two alternative slimmed-down bills, which failed to pass. Following the criticism from his own party, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to spend much of Friday trying to find a last-ditch agreement that would keep government agencies running.
There had been uncertainty about the outcome after Trump pushed his demand for the inclusion of a rise in the debt ceiling in the deal. If not, he posted early Friday, let the closures "start now."
However, Trump's final demand wasn't included in the final legislation. It was reduced from the original 1,500-page bill that had included much-derided pay hikes for lawmakers, among other promises.
The White House said President Joe Biden intended to sign the bill into law.
Source: DW
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
