Government shutdown updates: Biden signs funding bill, averting shutdown

Biden signed the stopgap measure on Saturday.

Last Updated: December 21, 2024, 11:31 AM EST

With a government shutdown narrowly avoided late Friday into Saturday morning, the House and Senate sent a funding bill to President Joe Biden's desk.

An initial bipartisan deal was tanked earlier this week by President-elect Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk. Then on Thursday night, the House failed to pass a revamped plan that included Trump's explosive demand that the debt limit be extended.

Under the proposal, the 118-page bill contains most of the provisions that were put in place in the bipartisan bill that was agreed to on Wednesday. The bill includes $100 billion for disaster aid, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill, provisions that were under heavy debate prior to this week's votes.

Dec 20, 2024, 6:05 PM EST

Biden supports funding bill

President Joe Biden has thrown his support for the funding bill that is being voted on by the House, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

The president "supports moving this legislation forward and ensuring that the vital services the government provides for hardworking Americans -- from issuing Social Security checks to processing benefits for veterans -- can continue as well as to grant assistance for communities that were impacted by devastating hurricanes," she said in a statement.

Jean-Pierre added that while the bill "does not include everything we sought," it does keep the government running, get aid to those still recovering from disasters earlier this year and " eliminates the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires."

She slammed President-elect Donald Trump for causing the last-minute scramble.

"Following an order by President-elect Trump, yesterday Republicans walked away from a bipartisan deal and threatened to shut down the government at the 11th hour in order to pave the way to provide tax breaks for billionaires. This revised legislation does not do that," she said.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Dec 20, 2024, 5:57 PM EST

House passes bill to avert government shutdown

The House of Representatives passed the two-thirds majority to pass the funding bill to avert a federal shutdown tonight. The bill, which funds the government until March, will head to the Senate.

Dec 20, 2024, 5:55 PM EST

Musk endorses funding deal

Billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk posted a statement on X that he supports the current funding deal that is being voted on.

"The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces. Ball should now be in the Dem court," said Musk, who threatened GOP members two days ago.

-ABC News' Claire Brinberg

Dec 20, 2024, 5:54 PM EST

Jeffries signals support for spending deal

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Democrats the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer support the new bill coming to the floor and that he does as well, according to members.

While the deal isn’t perfect, Democrats pointed out that it no longer includes the "poison pill" of the debt limit increase, said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill..

"It was a huge win for the American people to remove that," he said, suggesting that enough Democrats will back the deal to approve it tonight and possibly avoid a government shutdown.

-ABC News' Ben Siegel

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