JUST IN TIME: Senate Averts Shutdown, Green Lights House Spending Bill- But Where Is Biden?

The Senate has passed the American Relief Act with an 85-11 vote after the deadline a short time ago.

The bill was overwhelmingly approved by the House earlier in the evening, and technically the U.S. Government was in a “shutdown” for a short period before the Senate could wrap up it’s voting.

🚨#BREAKING: Technically, we are in a temporary government shutdown because the Senate has yet to pass the bill, and President Joe Biden has not signed it yet.

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) December 21, 2024

That was the news shortly after midnight on the East Coast, but the Senate quickly finished their voting and for all practical purposes — no shutdown occurred.

Except… the bill hasn’t been signed into law yet.

And why not?

Because not even a massive spending bill worth billions could keep Biden up past his bedtime, it seems.

And Biden won’t wake up until at LEAST noon.

We’re gonna be shut down for a while, boys 😆

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 21, 2024

So until someone wakes Biden up in the morning, we are still technically in a shutdown.

U.S. Senate PASSES government funding bill, 85-11.

Goes now to the president. pic.twitter.com/hWDFBiSeew

— CSPAN (@cspan) December 21, 2024

Here’s the breaking news of the Senate’s vote from Fox News:

Though the deadline was missed, there would be no actual shutdown of any government services or departments.

The House first approved the bill 366-34, and the Senate with an 85-11 vote according to the Associated Press:

Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.

President Joe Biden, who has played a less public role in the process throughout a turbulent week, was expected to sign the measure into law Saturday.

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered House speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. And it raised stark questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry GOP colleagues, and work alongside Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who called the legislative plays from afar.

Still, the House Democrats put up more votes than Republicans for the bill’s passage. Almost three dozen conservative House Republicans voted against it.

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In the Senate, almost all the opposition came from the Republicans — except independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said Musk’s interference was “not democracy, that’s oligarchy.”

Strangely enough, as the Associated Press pointed out, the bill received more negative pushback in both chambers of Congress from Republicans than Democrats!

Nevertheless, House Speaker Johnson claimed the passage in the House as a victory before sending it to the Senate.

The House just passed the American Relief Act with OVERWHELMING support.

This America First legislation delivers much-needed relief for Americans devastated by the hurricanes and our hardworking farmers, and it sets up President Trump to start delivering on DAY ONE. pic.twitter.com/85fEJT5WIY

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) December 20, 2024

Prior to the passage in either the House or Senate, White House reporters asked Press Secretary KJP about the bill.

Specifically, White House reporters wanted to know if Joe Biden was engaged in the deliberations to determine the final form of the bill.

She was asked directly if Biden had spoken to lawmakers during the process.

KJP’s response was a predictable attempt at misdirection away from Biden’s complete lack of involvement or ability to lead, as usual.

Q: Has Biden even bothered to speak to lawmakers about the spending bill or has he just completely checked out due to his cognitive deficiency?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: *blames Republicans* pic.twitter.com/HdQcZiNGRE

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 20, 2024

The White House Press Secretary’s ability to simply blame Republicans in response to questions specifically about Biden is legendary.

And she didn’t fail to play that same old card once again.

Ultimately, President Trump wasn’t overjoyed with the final bill and its lack of language addressing the debt ceiling.

Elon Musk also voiced his displeasure once the final product had passed, according to a Fox News story:

By Friday morning, there appeared to be no agreement between Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work together on a new bill. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the government would go into a partial shutdown at midnight if Republicans did not return to the original stopgap bill.

“I’m ready to stay here through Christmas because we’re not going to let Elon Musk run the government,” Murray said in a statement.

Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor that the original bill would pass in the House if Speaker Mike Johnson brought it to the floor for a vote.

The third measure, which ultimately passed the House and Senate, was similar to the one that failed the night prior. The bill included economic relief for farmers and disaster aid for those affected by recent storms. However, the final stopgap bill did not include a suspension of the debt ceiling, which Trump had requested himself.

Regardless of President Trump’s disappointment, the bill is expected to be signed first thing Saturday morning.

Or, at least, whenever Joe Biden has had enough sleep.

This is a developing story — we will bring you updates as soon as we know more about the final bill.