BREAKING: House sends ‘stopgap’ government funding bill to Biden to avoid federal shutdown

Lawmakers voted 254-175 to send the bill funding government through December 3 to US President Joe Biden for approval. Thirty-four Republicans voted with a unanimous Democrat caucus in support of the bill.

This is the House’s second crack at passing it after failing to advance it through the Senate Monday, reported the Hill. The Republicans refused to suspend the debt limit until mid-December of next year.

Faced with the prospect of a government shutdown during the COVID pandemic, Democrats opted to detach the debt limit suspension from the government funding bill. The Senate voted 65-35 Thursday afternoon to send the stopgap government funding bill back to the House.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the absence of debt measures could lead to a debt default as early as mid-October if Congress failed to act in time.

The bill includes $28.6 billion in economic recovery assistance to localities affected by recent natural disasters, including recent hurricanes and wildfires. Congress also approved another $6.3 billion to aid Afghan refugee resettlement efforts.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.