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Government shutdown live updates: Biden to sign funding bill Saturday: White House
The Senate passed the stop-gap measure early on Saturday.
With a government shutdown narrowly avoided late Friday into Saturday morning, the House and Senate sent a funding bill to President Joe Biden's desk.
An initial bipartisan deal was tanked earlier this week by President-elect Donald Trump and his ally, Elon Musk. Then on Thursday night, the House failed to pass a revamped plan that included Trump's explosive demand that the debt limit be extended.
Under the proposal, the 118-page bill contains most of the provisions that were put in place in the bipartisan bill that was agreed to on Wednesday. The bill includes $100 billion for disaster aid, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill, provisions that were under heavy debate prior to this week's votes.
Key Headlines
- Senate approves short-term government funding bill
- Senate has plan to pass funding bill before midnight deadline: Schumer
- Ahead of vote on shutdown bill, Senate approves funding for pediatric cancer research
- Jeffries calls funding bill passage 'a victory'
- Schumer confident Senate will pass government funding bill
- Johnson celebrates passage of funding bill, urges Senate to clear it swiftly
- Voting formally ends, Democrats vote yes
- What's included in the new bill
- New bill to avert shutdown released, plans for vote soon
Biden speaks with Democratic leaders ahead of potential shutdown: White House
President Joe Biden, who has yet to publicly weigh in on the funding battle, has been in touch with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday.
Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily briefing that Biden has been getting regular updates about what's unfolding on Capitol Hill.
When pressed on why Biden hasn't spoken out himself, Jean-Pierre said Republicans bear the responsibility to fix this issue.
"Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here, and they are the ones who have created this mess," she said. "That's the reality. That's the fact."
"This is not the first time we've been here, and the president has had this approach before. He understands how Congress works," she continued. "He's been around for some time. He understand what strategy works here to get this done."
Johnson plans to propose individual votes on spending measures: Sources
House Republicans will meet behind closed doors at 12:30 p.m. ET to discuss a new plan to avert a government shutdown -- as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says the “lines of communication have been reopened” with Speaker Mike Johnson.
According to sources, Johnson plans to propose the House take several individual votes on pieces of the slimmed-down agreement that failed on the floor Thursday night, including a continuing resolution to fund the government through March 14, $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers and $100 billion in disaster relief.
Those are the core pillars of the bipartisan proposal that was tanked by Trump and Musk. It’s unclear whether Republicans will make another attempt to take up the debt limit -- Trump’s key demand -- in this latest round of votes.
-ABC News' John Parkinson, Lauren Peller, Ben Siegel, Jay O'Brien, Isabella Murray
Elon Musk weighs in on spending battle
The Tesla billionaire and X owner is weighing in again as lawmakers search for an eleventh-hour solution.
"Either the government should pass sensible bills that actually serve the people or shut it down!" Musk wrote on X.
His post came shortly after Trump also urged the shutdown to "begin now" under the Biden administration rather than during his presidency if lawmakers were unable to come to an agreement.
The funding fight has been a forum for Musk to exert his political influence. Musk has become a key member of President-elect Donald Trump's inner circle, and played a role in torpedoing an original government spending plan that had bipartisan support.
As Johnson scrambles for deal, Schumer calls for return to bipartisan plan
In floor remarks on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Republicans to return to the original bipartisan funding plan.
"If Republicans do not work with Democrats in a bipartisan way very soon the government will shut down at midnight. It is time to go back to the original agreement we had just a few days ago," Schumer said.
"It's the quickest, simplest, and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people. If the House put our original agreement on the floor today it would pass and we could put the threat of a shutdown behind us," Schumer said.
The comments came as Speaker Mike Johnson huddled in his office with Vice President-elect JD Vance and other lawmakers to try to come up with a third funding option to vote on.
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin