Congress voted to prevent a government shutdown.
Congress on Thursday approved measures to prevent a government shutdown, delay key deadlines and buy more time to complete larger funding deals.
Ahead of the weekend deadline, the House passed legislation providing temporary funding to one set of federal agencies through March 8 and another set through March 22. The bill quickly moved to the Senate, where it passed Thursday evening. 77-13 vote. The bill will now go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law ahead of a Saturday deadline.
“If this bill passes, thank God, we will be able to avoid a shutdown that has a detrimental impact on the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said just before the vote.
Without action, a handful of agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, will be partially closed Saturday morning. The remaining institutions, including the Ministry of Defense, are scheduled to be partially closed after March 8.
In the meantime, Congress will aim to pass a package of bills to fund the government for the remainder of the budget year.
Investors may not be hurt by the brief shutdown, as the stock SPX rose during previous government shutdowns. But farmers would lose access to loans, IPOs could be halted, and U.S. troops and other federal employees would go without pay.
read: How can a government shutdown affect you and your money?
Republicans barely control the House, and Speaker Mike Johnson had to rely on Democrats to help pass a stopgap spending bill. It passed the House by a vote of 320-99.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
