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Government shutdown updates: Biden signs funding bill, averting shutdown

PHOTO: The US Capitol is seen on Dec. 21, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
3:59
Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden signs bipartisan funding bill, averting government shutdown
By Lauren Peller, John Parkinson, Ivan Pereira, Stacey Dec, Jack Moore, David Brennan
Last Updated: December 21, 2024, 5:45 PM

With a government shutdown narrowly avoided late Friday into Saturday morning, the House and Senate sent a funding bill to President Joe Biden's desk.

An initial bipartisan deal was tanked earlier this week by President-elect Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk. Then on Thursday night, the House failed to pass a revamped plan that included Trump's explosive demand that the debt limit be extended.

Under the proposal, the 118-page bill contains most of the provisions that were put in place in the bipartisan bill that was agreed to on Wednesday. The bill includes $100 billion for disaster aid, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill, provisions that were under heavy debate prior to this week's votes.

Key Headlines

  • Biden signs short-term government funding bill
  • Senate approves short-term government funding bill
  • Ahead of vote on shutdown bill, Senate approves funding for pediatric cancer research
  • Jeffries calls funding bill passage 'a victory'
  • Johnson celebrates passage of funding bill, urges Senate to clear it swiftly
  • What's included in the new bill
Here's how the news is developing:

Dec 21, 2024 5:45 PM

Biden signs short-term government funding bill

President Joe Biden signed into law the short-term funding bill on Saturday, according to a release from the White House. Biden signed the bill this morning after lawmakers sent it to his desk after late-night negotiations.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden departs from St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church, on the day of the anniversary of the death of the President's first wife and daughter who died in a car accident in 1972, in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 18, 2024.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
President Joe Biden departs from St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church, on the day of the anniversary of the death of the President's first wife and daughter who died in a car accident in 1972, in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 18, 2024.
Nathan Howard/Reuters

The bill extends funding for the government until mid-March, has $100 billion for disaster aid, something the White House wanted, and extends funding for farmers.

"This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted. But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity," Biden said.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart


Dec 21, 2024 11:01 AM

Biden to sign funding bill Saturday, White House says

President Joe Biden will sign the short-term funding bill that Congress passed overnight on Saturday, according to the White House.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden stand for a group photograph with White House staff members outside the White House on Dec. 20, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Ben Curtis/AP
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden stand for a group photograph with White House staff members outside the White House on Dec. 20, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Ben Curtis/AP

The White House Office of Management and Budget stopped "shutdown preparations" overnight in expectation that Congress would pass the short-term funding necessary to keep the government running.

"Because obligations of federal funds are incurred and tracked on a daily basis, agencies will not shut down and may continue their normal operations," an overnight White House statement said.

"There is a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant appropriations and the president will sign the bill on Saturday," the White House said.

"Because obligations of federal funds are incurred and tracked on a daily basis, agencies will not shut down and may continue their normal operations," the White House added.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart


Dec 21, 2024 5:51 AM

Senate approves short-term government funding bill

The Senate approved the House-passed short-term government funding bill in a just-after-midnight vote by a vote of 85-11.

The legislation will extend government funding until March 14. It provides $100 billion for disaster aid, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill.

The gavel technically fell in the Senate at 12:38, meaning that Congress technically missed its midnight deadline to avert a shutdown by 38 minutes.

President Joe Biden still needs to sign the bill, but a shutdown has for all intents and purposes been averted and no real tangible effects of it will be felt in the window between now and Biden's signing of the bill.

PHOTO: The U.S. Capitol is pictured in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 20, 2024.
Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. Capitol is pictured in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 20, 2024.
Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images

Before the vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the work of the Senate in passing this bill.

"Tonight the Senate delivers good news for America: there will be no government shutdown right before Christmas," Schumer said. "After a chaotic few days in the House it's good news that the bipartisan approach in the end prevailed. It is a good lesson for next year: both sides have to work together."

He heralded the legislation as a "good bill".

"It is a good outcome for America and the American people," Schumer said.

The passage of the passage of the short-term funding bill marks the end of the 118th Congress. The Senate will now depart for the holidays, and return on January 3, 2025, when the 119th Congress will be sworn in.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin



Dec 21, 2024 3:56 AM

Senate has plan to pass funding bill before midnight deadline: Schumer

The Senate is, after several hours of stalled debate, beginning a series of votes that are all but certain to end in the passage of the House-backed short-term continuing resolution.

"I have very good news for my colleagues and the country: Democrats and Republicans have just reached an agreement that will allow us to pass the CR tonight before the midnight deadline," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor.

The Senate was first voting on a series of amendments to the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill that would boost Social Security payments for millions of public service retirees who also receive pensions.

Final passage of the short-term funding was expected to be the last vote Friday evening.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin


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