Government Runs Out Of Money Again As Congress Fails To Reach A Deal
The White House advised agencies to prepare for a shutdown as debate pushed past the midnight deadline.
The Senate voted 71-28 to reopen the government by passing its budget deal early Friday morning. The House is expected to take up the bill sometime in the next few hours.
The federal government ran out of money for the second time in a month early Friday morning, as lawmakers were unable to come to an agreement to prevent another lapse in funding.
The White House began advising parts of the government to prepare for another shutdown late Thursday night, but there were still questions on whether the government would technically close, as Congress still had the ability to prevent the furlough of government workers if the House and Senate could pass a bipartisan bill overnight.
That prospect seemed to be thinning, however.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) continued his objection over the Senate moving up a vote on spending caps Friday, until lawmakers voted to end debate on the agreement.
After senators close debate, Paul could take an additional hour to speak against the agreement — as could other senators — before the Senate votes on final passage, meaning a final vote in that chamber could take place closer to 3 a.m.
Update: At 1:45 a.m., the Senate voted, 71-28, to pass a bipartisan bill to fund the government. The bill now must go through the House, where its chance of passage is much less certain.
Once the bill passes the Senate, a House clerk would have to prepare the bill ― which could also take hours ― and then lawmakers would have to move the legislation out of the Rules Committee, have House lawmakers adopt a rule governing debate for the bill and then get that last passage vote.
