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.
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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.
