December 22, 2024 – Presidential Transition News

The Senate approved a slimmed-down, temporary government spending plan early Saturday morning, averting a federal government shutdown.

President Joe Biden signed the legislation yesterday, ending a chaotic week on Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers were forced to scramble for a new pact after President-elect Donald Trump torpedoed an initial bipartisan deal struck earlier this week. A House vote on a Trump-endorsed funding bill failed Thursday night before the chamber finally approved a revised bill Friday night.

The legislation funds the government through March 14, setting up another spending showdown in the early days of the Trump administration. Republican lawmakers also ultimately kicked the can down the road on a key Trump demand.

Here’s what else is on the bill:

• More disaster relief: The spending bill provides about $100 billion to help Americans trying to recover from multiple natural disasters in 2023 and 2024. The funding is in line with the request by the Biden administration in November for about $100 billion.

• Financial support for farmers: The bill includes $10 billion in financial aid for farmers, one of the last sticking points in negotiations earlier this week. Legislators from agriculture-focused states have argued that help is badly needed faced by America’s farmers lower commodity prices and higher costs of supplies.

The spending deal also includes a one-year extension of the farm bill — a comprehensive package that governs many agriculture and nutrition support programs.

• Maryland bridge financing: Under the bill, replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland would be fully funded by the federal government. The legislation would also allow the U.S. Treasury Department to recoup money from any settlements related to the bridge’s collapse to help pay for reconstruction.

And here’s what didn’t make the cut:

• Extension of debt ceiling: The GOP package that failed Thursday would have suspended the debt ceiling until Jan. 30, 2027, meeting Trump’s key demands from his Wednesday scrapping of the original deal. Instead, Republicans are looking to include an increase in the debt ceiling in a future package next year.

The debt ceiling is currently set to return on January 2nd. It was suspended as part of the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act that Congress passed in June 2023. Lawmakers would likely have until mid-2025 to address the debt ceiling, as the Treasury could temporarily use cash on hand and other measures to stay afloat with paying the nation’s bills and avoiding a first-ever default.

Although Republicans will control Capitol Hill and the White House next year, dealing with the debt ceiling would add another complicated issue to the party’s already full plate, which includes an extension of the sweeping 2017 Trump tax cuts.

Read more about the bill below some other priorities that didn’t make it downhere.