Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks at the unveiling of the congressional portrait of Former House Speaker John Boehner at the US Capitol in Washington November 19, 2019. — Reuters pic
WASHINGTON, Nov 20 — The US House of Representatives yesterday approved legislation to avert a widespread government shutdown later this week with a bill extending temporary federal funding through December 20.
The legislation passed the House by a vote of 231-192, with all but a dozen Republicans voting against the funding.
It now goes to the Senate, which will aim to approve it before midnight tomorrow when existing funds expire. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday said the White House had indicated its support for the bill.
This second stop-gap bill since September is needed because Congress has not completed a series of regular appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began on October 1.
That in part is because of disagreements between Republican President Donald Trump and Democrats, who control the House, over the billions of dollars he wants to build a US-Mexico border wall.
The same disagreements resulted in a record-long, 35-day partial government shutdown that began late last December and extended into early 2019. — Reuters