On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives took a major step toward preventing a shutdown by passing a temporary funding plan.
More Democrats than Republicans voted for the plan, which was passed just hours before the current fund was about to expire (91 to 335).
If passed by the Senate’s Democratic majority and President Joe Biden, the legislation would propose a 45-day extension of government financing. After a government shutdown appeared imminent earlier in the week, things have taken a dramatic turn.
As the midnight shutdown deadline approaches, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy offered the interim plan to prevent the furlough or pay freeze of millions of federal employees and military personnel.
Some conservative Republicans went against their party’s leadership and refused several temporary funding solutions, calling for the crisis to escalate.
The proposed approach would keep government financing at its current level without the drastic cuts to spending that Democrats have rejected. However, funding for Ukraine is not included. The government made it a priority to back Ukraine in its fight against Russian occupation.