- With just hours to spare, Congress averted a government shutdown Saturday evening by passing a temporary spending bill that keeps agencies funded through mid-November as exhausted lawmakers deferred for a few weeks bruising battles over spending cuts, Ukraine war aid and possibly House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s future.
- Defying media predictions, McCarthy maneuvered a last-minute continuing resolution (CR) and garnered significant support from Democrats to keep agencies’ doors open for 45 days and provide $16 billion in federal disaster aid to hard-hit American communities. But he cut out any new assistance for Ukraine’s war against Russia that the White House wanted.
- The Senate followed a few hours later with its approval, and President Joe Biden signed the bill shortly before midnight to avert the shutdown.
- “This is good news for the American people,” Biden said after inking the deal.
