Dec. 12 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed a one-week stopgap funding bill, hours before the government was set to shut down.
The legislation funds the government through Dec. 18, giving Congress another week to hammer out a deal for the new fiscal year.
The Senate passed the stopgap bill earlier Friday and the House passed passed it Wednesday.
Lawmakers have struggled since September to agree to a sweeping omnibus funding bill that would settle federal agency budgets and provide billions in aid related to the pandemic.
An agreement on a $1.4 trillion omnibus has been held up by disagreements over immigration provisions, abortion language and other items.
Meanwhile, Congress is also working to come to terms on another round of COVID-19 stimulus, which is expected to be intertwined with the final spending bill.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., both threatened to try to block the stopgap bill unless the Senate voted on legislation providing another round of $1,200 stimulus checks to individuals.
“We will deal with the financial crisis facing tens of millions of Americans,” Sanders said on the Senate floor. “And if I have anything to say about it, and I guess I do, we’re not going to go home for the Christmas holidays unless we make sure that we provide for the millions of families in this country who are suffering.”
