The stopgap funding bill now heads to the president’s desk for signature. Earlier on Friday, 10 Democrats joined Republicans to advance the measure.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate on March 14 approved a House-passed bill to extend government funding by six months, hours before a shutdown deadline.
After days of speculation about its ultimate fate in the upper chamber, the Senate agreed to final passage of the bill in a 54–46 vote on Friday evening. The legislation now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump, who’s expected to sign it.
Though a handful of Democrats voted to advance the bill earlier the same day, only Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Angus King (I-Vt.) supported final passage. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to oppose the package, citing budget concerns.
The legislation, which passed the House on March 11 in a 217–213 vote, extends government funding through Sept. 30, the final day of the fiscal year.
It increases defense spending by about $6 billion while cutting non-defense spending by $13 billion compared to last year’s levels. Overall, the measure reduces spending by about $7 billion from the previous year.
Four proposed amendments to the package—including one to reduce its duration to 30 days and another from Paul to implement certain recommendations made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—were defeated ahead of the bill’s final passage in the Senate.
In an earlier procedural vote, 10 Democrats joined Republicans to advance the measure: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sens. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Gary Peters (D-Mich), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Shaheen, and King.
The bill’s advancement was due in large part to Schumer’s announcement on Thursday that he would vote to avert a shutdown, describing it as the best of multiple bad options. The minority leader previously said that Senate Democrats wouldn’t support the bill and thus the Republicans wouldn’t have enough votes to pass it.
Trump congratulated Schumer for “doing the right thing,” adding that the latter’s final decision took “’guts’ and courage.”
“A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday morning, calling it a “really good and smart move by Senator Schumer.”
The Senate also passed by a voice vote a bipartisan bill related to funding for Washington that reverses an approximately $1.1 billion cut to the city’s budget included in the stopgap spending bill.
For Democrats, the fight over the bill could have implications stretching beyond the current dispute—particularly for Schumer, who is facing criticisms from the progressive base and some House Democrats.
