Brief Government Shutdown Ends After Congress Passes Spending Bill

Congress approved a sweeping budget deal early Friday morning, ending a brief government shutdown overnight and sending the measure to President Trump for his signature.

The legislation would fund the government through March 23, giving lawmakers time to write a spending bill for the rest of the fiscal year and break the pattern of gridlock that has led to five temporary funding patches since September.

It also set the stage to boost federal spending for both defense and nondefense programs by $300 billion over the next two years, The Hill reports. The deal also includes a number of other priorities for both parties, including nearly $90 billion for disaster relief, $6 billion to address the opioid crisis, a four-year extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program and more than $7 billion for community health centers.

The new deal does not address immigration policy, which has been a major point of contention for Democrats. But after the vote passed in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., kept his promise by agreeing to an immigration debate next week.

The deal runs more than 600 pages, but it is still not a long-term solution. It would only keep the government running for six weeks, while Congress tries again to put together a budget deal that would not end until Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

On Wednesday, Senate leadership announced the two-year budget deal, and it looked like the shutdown would be prevented if it passed the House. Paul stepped in on Thursday, adding a new roadblock.

The previous government shutdown, which started on Jan. 20, only lasted until Jan. 22, when the House and Senate agreed to a short-term deal.

The latest shutdown comes near the end of a difficult week for the White House. Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned Wednesday after two ex-wives accused him of abuse. At first, White House staffers — including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly — defended him, but a White House spokesman told the New York Times Thursday they "could have done better" with handling the situation.