US President Joe Biden signs government funding bill, averts shutdown

United States President Joe Biden signed a legislation on Thursday that would avoid a government shutdown for now by funding branches of the federal government. 

Earlier on Thursday, both the United States Senate and House of Representatives approved the bill on priority to keep the government funded. However, the stopgap bill is only a temporary measure and will only fund the government till December 3, 2022.

The bill, which has been tagged as HR 5305 and Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act “includes supplemental appropriations for disaster relief; includes supplemental appropriations for Afghanistan evacuees; and extends several expiring authorizations”, according to a White House press release.

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Biden also tweeted after signing the bill on Thursday. He wrote, “Tonight I signed the continuing resolution to fund our government through December. It funds critical needs like our COVID-19 response, resettling our Afghan allies, and disaster assistance — and gives us more time to pass longer-term funding and deliver for the American people.”

The short-term spending legislation will also provide about $28.6 billion in disaster relief for those recovering from Hurricane Ida and other natural disasters.

Some $10 billion of that money will help farmers cover crop losses from drought, wildfires and hurricanes, according to reports from Associated Press.

Also Read: A brief history of the US government shutdowns so far

The news comes after week-long negotiations between members of the Democratic and Republican parties, at the centre of which was the debate about raising the debt ceiling of the United States.

A large majority of Republicans in both chambers voted against it. The legislation was needed to keep the government running once the current budget year ended at midnight Thursday. Passage will buy lawmakers more time to craft the spending measures that will fund federal agencies and the programs they administer.

The government funding bill cleared the House of Representatives with a tally of 254-175 while the Senate’s tally was 65-35.