The Senate passed a consolidated spending bill to fund the government on Saturday morning but failed to do so before the shutdown deadline.
The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, a bill to appropriate $1.2 trillion of public funds, was published by the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee at 2:48 a.m. EST on Thursday. While narrowly passed by the House on Friday and the Senate on Saturday morning, the latter was unable to do so before the 11:59 p.m. EST deadline, resulting in a technical government shutdown
The Senate passed the bill at 2:03 a.m. EST on Saturday, by a vote of 74 yeas to 24 nays. The Office of Management and Budget announced early on Saturday that it “has ceased shutdown preparations because there is a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant appropriations and the President will sign the bill on Saturday,” though appropriations expired for the government nationwide at 11:59 p.m. EST.
“For the rest of us who didn’t see it until 2:30 a.m. [EST] this morning, and for the 330 million Americans out there who will have to pay for this stuff, that’s not adequate notice, that’s not a carefully negotiated agreement. That is collusion among the few affecting the many adversely. I find this very, very disturbing,” Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said on the Senate floor on Thursday, one of the members opposed to the bill. “It begs the question: what are they hiding?”
At 11:44 p.m. EST, 15 minutes before the shutdown deadline, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke on the floor announcing a deal to pass the bill, with several votes on amendments and motions from opponents, while asking senators to remain in the chamber to complete the process expeditiously.
“I would ask members respectfully but with strength: sit in your chairs, please, so we can get this done,” Schumer said.
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