The United States Senate has passed a temporary spending bill meant to avert a government shutdown Friday, according to the Associated Press.
AP:
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a partial government shutdown when the current fiscal year ends at midnight Friday and provide another infusion of military and economic aid to Ukraine as it seeks to repel Russia’s brutal invasion.
The bill finances the federal government through Dec. 16 and buys lawmakers more time to agree on legislation setting spending levels for the 2023 fiscal year. It passed by a vote of 72-25 and now goes to the House for consideration. All of the no votes came from Republicans.
As has become routine, lawmakers waited until the final hours before the shutdown deadline to act.
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The bill approved Thursday, with some exceptions, keeps spending at federal agencies at current levels through mid-December. The most notable of those exceptions is the more than $12 billion that will be provided to aid Ukraine, on top of more than $50 billion provided in two previous bills.
My colleague at sister site Townhall.com wrote on Tuesday about that last provision of the stop-gap bill:
Included in the stop-gap spending bill that funds the federal government through mid-December is nearly $12 billion in economic aid for the war-torn country.
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Securing the funds comes after a request from the White House, which wants to see $11.7 billion for security and economic assistance for Ukraine. This comes in addition to the already $53 billion in aid Congress has already approved for the country, according to the Associated Press.
As we previously reported, one thing the bill doesn’t include now is the Democrats’ previous promise to Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) of a carve-out on permitting and a pipeline in his home state.