US Senate Passes Bill To Avoid Gov’t Shutdown

By Staff, Agencies 

In an attempt to avoid government shutdown, the US Senate passed a bill Thursday providing funding until February 18.

The 69 to 28 vote came after the House of Representatives passed the bill 221-212. The Senate had a deadline to approve it by the end of Friday; US President Joe Biden is now expected to sign it and enact it into law.

The bill also allocated $7 billion to aid Afghanistan evacuees.

"I am glad that, in the end, cooler heads prevailed -- the government will stay open," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. "And I thank the members of this chamber for walking us back from the brink of an avoidable, needless and costly shutdown."

Some Republican lawmakers threatened to scuttle the bill over Biden’s Covid-19 restrictions on private employees.

Utah's senior senator Mike Lee said that between “suspending nonessential functions” and standing with American workers, “I’ll stand with American workers every time.”

Lee and Senator Roger Marshall from Kansas tried to prohibit federal dollars being used to implement and enforce vaccine mandates.

“I don't think shutting down the government over this issue is going to get an outcome.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned.

“There is a plan in place unless somebody decides to be totally erratic, and I don’t think that will happen,” Biden said ahead of the vote.