The federal government headed for a brief shutdown after senators failed to advance a $1.2 trillion funding package by a midnight Saturday deadline, but a deal has been struck, keeping disruption minimal .
The House of Representatives passed the legislation Friday morning, giving the Senate just over 12 hours to potentially vote on the matter before objecting lawmakers derailed attempts to expedite a vote.
At 11:42 p.m. Friday, Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor to announce a deal to move forward with votes, indicating the lapse in funding for about 70% of the government would be temporary.
“We have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government,” Schumer said in setting up votes on amendments before the final passage of the bipartisan deal on Saturday.
The missed shutdown deadline marks the 11th funding lapse for the federal government, though some of those lasted for just a handful of hours. The longest shutdown in U.S. history occurred under former President Donald Trump in the 115th Congress, when disagreements over Trump’s border wall stalled the appropriations process and saw federal employees furloughed for 35 days.
Impacted federal bodies this time around would have included the departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security, Treasury, Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, the Small Business Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, certain congressional offices, and the federal judiciary.
However, in a sign that swift passage was expected Saturday, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget called off formal shutdown procedures for agencies shortly after midnight.
“OMB has ceased shutdown preparations because there is a high degree of confidence that Congress will imminently pass the relevant appropriations and the President will sign the bill on Saturday,” the White House said in a statement. “Because obligations of federal funds are incurred and tracked on a daily basis, agencies will not shut down and may continue their normal operations.”
The House had passed the spending package Friday on a bipartisan basis, prompting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to bring a motion to vacate against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Lawmakers were scheduled to depart Washington, D.C. Friday for a 16-day recess, so Johnson will have until April to secure majority backing in the House or be booted from the chair.
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Johnson’s predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, was also removed from his post last fall after working with Democrats to pass a continuing government funding resolution and working with Biden to cap federal spending levels.
