Congress passes funding bill through Dec. 3, avoiding shutdown

With just hours to go in fiscal year 2021, Congress passed a stopgap funding bill to avert a partial government shutdown.

The Senate passed the continuing resolution on a 65-35 vote. The bill then moved to the House of Representatives, where it passed in the late afternoon on a 254-175 vote.

The continuing resolution funds the federal government at fiscal year 2021 levels, with a few exceptions, through Dec. 3.

President Joe Biden signed the measure into law on Thursday night.

Lawmakers are still facing a deadline of around Oct. 18 on extending or suspending the debt limit to avoid the United States going into default on some of its debt obligations.

Senate Republicans led by Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have so far declined to vote for an extension of the debt limit, urging Democrats to include any debt ceiling legislation in a reconciliation package that does not have to obtain a 60 vote majority to proceed to a final vote.

Democrats have thus far not endorsed such a process and are looking to extend the debt limit with a standalone piece of legislation.

"I'm pleased to know that the government won't shut down tonight, but disappointed that we've once again been forced to resort to last-ditch measures," Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement. "Although we voted to avert a shutdown crisis today – sparing the livelihoods of federal workers everywhere and preserving much-needed stability for Americans – we continue to head towards economic calamity by failing to act in a bipartisan way to lift the debt ceiling."