U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
President Joe Biden signed a $460 billion spending bill Saturday, averting a partial government shutdown that would have taken effect this weekend.
This partial budget agreement covers funding for six major areas of government, including the departments of Military and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development and Energy.
On Friday evening, the Senate voted 75-22 to approve the package after the House of Representatives passed it earlier this week.
The agreement represents a step forward in an effort to secure a permanent budget for the remainder of the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. The other six budget bills, which fund the rest of the government, expire on March 22.
This is the fourth time this fiscal year that Congress has had to pass a short-term spending bill to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown.
Democrats are pushing for continued full funding of a special food assistance program for women, infants and children. They also secured profits in rental assistance and the pay of infrastructure workers such as air traffic controllers and railway inspectors.
Meanwhile, Republicans also viewed the first half of the funding package as a victory, declaring victories on veteran gun ownership and funding cuts for government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
—CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto contributed reporting.
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2024-03-09 17:22:03
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