The Senate approved a $1.2 trillion funding package early Saturday, sending the massive spending bill off to President Joe Biden after missing a midnight government funding deadline.
The legislation passed 74-24 shortly after 2 a.m. ET and capped off months of bipartisan dealmaking to fund the government through Sept. 30.
The bill unveiled Thursday funds the Departments of Defense, Labor, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, State, Education, and the legislative branch. It covers roughly 70% of the federal government and, with its passage, brings a close to the fiscal 2024 appropriations process, nearly six months after it began.
The upper chamber hit a stalemate Friday evening as Republicans demanded multiple amendment votes related to immigration and the border in exchange for speeding up the process. Cooperation from all 100 senators was required to come to an agreement in order to fast-track the massive spending package ahead of the Friday night deadline.
Government funding formally lapsed at midnight, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor about 15 minutes before the shutdown deadline to announce a deal had been reached on amendment votes and final passage.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget called off formal shutdown preparations shortly after midnight 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.”
Lawmakers have struggled to get over the finish line on government funding, the process slowed by a divided Congress that required several short-term, stopgap funding bills to keep agencies funded.
The bipartisan compromise legislation had been touted as a win by both Republican and Democratic leaders. However, the vote in the House on Friday angered many Republicans over the contents of the bill and how quickly it moved.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) brought the package to the floor, even though a majority of Republicans voted against it, prompting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to initiate an effort to oust Johnson.
Congress now heads for a two-week spring break, but Greene’s resolution awaits Johnson when the House returns from recess in April.
