In a significant step toward avoiding a government shutdown, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill on Saturday.
The bill, which was adopted hours before the current fund was due to expire, was accepted with 91 votes to 335, with more Democrats supporting it than Republicans.
The measure proposes a 45-day extension of government funding, subject to approval by the Democrat-majority Senate and Democratic President Joe Biden. This development marks a significant change from earlier in the week, when a government shutdown seemed almost certain.
The stopgap measure was introduced by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as the midnight shutdown approaches, threatening to send millions of federal employees and military personnel home or require them to work without pay.
The crisis was largely instigated by a small group of hard-line Republicans who defied party leaders and rejected various stopgap funding proposals, demanding deep spending cuts instead.
The proposed plan maintains current government funding levels without the hardline spending cuts that Democrats view as unacceptable. However, it does not include financing for Ukraine. Supporting Ukraine in its war against the Russian occupation was one of the key policies of the US President Biden administration.
*This is not investment advice.