The Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government until at least February, defusing a feud over Covid-19 vaccine mandates hours before the government would have been forced to shut down.
The U.S. Capitol.
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The resolution was passed by the Senate and will be sent to the president.
The House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution and a spending bill at the same time.
The continuing resolution will keep the government funded until at least February 18, giving Congress more time to pass a full budget for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The amendment to defund vaccine mandates failed after senators voted on it.
Congress passed a stopgap spending measure before the government shut down. If the House and Senate didn't pass another short-term funding bill by Friday, nonessential government services would have stopped and many federal employees would have gone without pay. Biden and McConnell remained confident that the government wouldn't defund their Covid-19 vaccine mandates despite the push to leverage the crisis.
There is a structure called the Tangent.
Some of the Biden Administration's Covid-19 vaccine rules are on hold due to court challenges. A vaccine mandate for Medicare- and Medicaid-funded healthcare facilities was temporarily put on hold by a federal judge in three Republican-led states, while an appeals court halted the vaccine-or-test policy for large private employers.
The debt ceiling needs to be raised or suspended in the coming weeks. If the debt limit isn't raised, the federal government could run out of funds by December 15.
Senate Conservatives may still kill the bill over vaccine mandates.
