US Senate passes government funding bill averting potentially disastrous shutdown

The bill will now be sent to the White House, where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it was 'good news that the bipartisan approach in the end prevailed'. AFP

The US Senate approved a bill to provide temporary additional federal funding, 38 minutes after a deadline expired at midnight, averting a destabilising government shutdown following weeks of intense negotiations that ended early on Saturday.

The bill to fund federal agencies through mid-March will now be sent to the White House, where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law.

As the midnight deadline expired, senators in the Democrat-controlled chamber dropped normal procedure to fast-track the package in an 85-11 vote. The move ended government shutdown preparations and saved Christmas for more than 800,000 workers who were at risk of being sent home without pay.

"It's good news that the bipartisan approach in the end prevailed. It's a good outcome for America and the American people," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the chamber's floor.

The late-night vote ended a frantic week that saw President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk defeat an initial bipartisan deal, throwing Congress into chaos.

The final version stripped out some provisions championed by Democrats, who accused Republicans of caving in to pressure from an unelected billionaire who has no experience in government.

Legislators approved a package that includes $110 billion in disaster aid and financial relief for farmers. It was similar to the bill that failed a vote on Thursday, except without a two-year suspension of the country's self-imposed borrowing limit demanded by Mr Trump.

The Democrats, who run the Senate, were crucial in helping the Republican majority in the House pass the bill earlier in the day.

There were fears that the funding fight might spill into next week, which would have meant non-essential operations halting, with up to 875,000 workers furloughed and as many as 1.4 million more required to work without pay.

If the funding bill had failed, employees in key services such as law enforcement would have continued working but would only have been paid once government functions were back up. Many parks, monuments and national sites would have closed at a time when millions of visitors are expected.

Congress's setting of government budgets is always a fraught task, with both chambers closely divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Mr Trump and Mr Musk were behind much of the chaos this time around by pressuring Republicans in an 11th hour intervention to revoke a funding bill they had painstakingly agreed with Democrats.

Two subsequent efforts to find compromise fell short, leaving Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson huddling on Friday with aides to find a way to keep government agencies running.

The influence of Mr Musk, the world's richest man, over the Republicans and his close relationship with Mr Trump has been criticised by Democratic and even some Republicans after he trashed the original funding agreement in a thread of posts on his social media platform X.

Mr Trump was opposed to the bill at first over claims that it was too expansive, including funds for disaster relief in response to a devastating storm season. Then he demanded a new funding bill include a lift on the US debt limit – a move Democratic critics say will set up his ability to cut taxes once he comes into the White House next month.

“Put simply, we should not let an unelected billionaire rip away research for paediatric cancer so he can get a tax cut or tear down policies that help America outcompete China because it could hurt his bottom line,” Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic head of the Appropriations Committee, said.

The back-and-forth drew ire from even senior Republicans. Departing Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said: “Folks come to Washington to do one of two things: either to make a point or to make a difference … it’s usually not that hard to tell who's doing which, especially in situations like the one we're in right now.”

Democrats are warning that the chaos launched by the Trump-aligned billionaire is a prelude to what is to come when the new government comes to power in January.

“Merry Christmas from the Republican-majority Congress and the president-elect,” Congressman Gerry Connolly, who will next year be the powerful ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, remarked sarcastically.