President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a continuing resolution funding the federal government through Dec. 3, punting the fight over a government shutdown just a few months down the road.
Both the House and Senate passed the continuing resolution Thursday, narrowly meeting their Friday deadline. The Senate passed the resolution with a 65-35 majority, while the House passed it in a 254-175 vote.
New- @POTUS has signed the Continuing Resolution funding Fed agencies through December 3rd, two administration officials tell @CBSNews. https://t.co/NxCf2moOnX
— Fin Gómez (@finnygo) September 30, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 30: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol on September 30, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Senate passws a short term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, which quickly made it to the president’s desk and was signed into law. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Thank you to Chairman Patrick Leahy, Vice Chairman Richard Shelby, Chair Rosa DeLauro, and Ranking Member Kay Granger for their leadership,” Biden said in a statement announcing the signing.
The move merely delays an impending fight between Democrats and Republicans over whether to raise the debt ceiling. The $28.4 trillion ceiling was re-imposed in August following a two-year suspension. The U.S. could default on its debt if the ceiling is not raised, an unprecedented situation that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says would be “catastrophic.”
Republicans have blocked several Democratic attempts to raise the ceiling, arguing that it is Democratic spending that contributes the vast majority of debt and Democrats should be responsible for raising the ceiling on their own. This could be achieved by including a provision raising the debt ceiling in the filibuster-immune $3.5 trillion budget plan. (RELATED: Biden Hands Out Ice Cream At Baseball Game While Infrastructure Negotiations Intensify)
Democrats, however, have faced severe infighting over whether the $3.5 trillion bill should be passed at all, with moderates arguing that a smaller, bipartisan $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill must be passed first. The more left-wing faction of the party argues just the opposite, fearing that the larger spending bill will be left behind if the smaller is passed first.
