Biden signs bill to extend funding, avoid government shutdown

President Biden on Friday signed a bill to keep the government funded into March ahead of a midnight deadline that would have led to a shutdown.

The bill funds the government through March 11 at current levels, giving lawmakers another three weeks to negotiate a larger spending deal to keep the government funded through the rest of the fiscal year that ends in September.

The House passed the stopgap measure earlier this week, and the Senate followed by approving the bill on Thursday with a 65-27 vote.

The Senate’s passage of the funding bill followed days of drama as senators tried to get a deal that would clear a path for the legislation. Because of the Senate’s rules, and the looming deadline, they needed buy-in from all 100 members to speed up the bill to meet the deadline.

Senators spent days haggling over what amendments would get votes. In the end they agreed on three: two related to Biden’s vaccine mandates and a third from Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) on balancing the budget.