House Passes Bill to Avoid Government Shutdown

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed legislation to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month and suspend the nation’s borrowing limit with a vote of 220-211. Government funding is set to expire on September 30th but the bill the House approved yesterday would extend funding and keep the government open through December 3rd. In addition to that, it also includes a suspension to the debt limit through December 16th of 2022, $28.6 billion in disaster relief funding and $6.3 billion to assist Afghanistan evacuees. The bill will now advance to the Senate for voting.

Republicans there are likely to vote no and spark a shutdown, it is unclear what plan b would be if the effort to avert the shutdown and suspend the debt limit is voted down but if Republicans block it, there could still be enough time to strip the debt limit measure out and pass a stand alone spending bill to avoid the shutdown. That vote however could take place close to the shutdown deadline and would require cooperation from both parties.