US Congress approves temporary funding bill to avoid government shutdown

The US Congress on Friday passed a temporary funding bill to avoid a government shutdown and provide additional time to negotiators working to craft out a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package with bipartisan support. The stopgap bill was approved in both the House and the Senate with only hours remaining before the government funding expired. The bill was later signed into law by US President Donald Trump. 

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US Congress averts 2018-19 from repeating 

This comes just two years after the United States witnessed its longest government shutdown of 35 days after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement on an appropriations bill to fund the operations of the US government. The stopgap bill will provide a two-day extension of government funding that will keep the agencies running until Sunday. All the non-essential agencies would have been temporarily shut in case of no stopgap bill. 

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"The American people urgently need coronavirus relief and this short stopgap bill will allow bipartisan, bicameral negotiators to complete their work on this important issue. I look forward to swiftly passing omnibus appropriations and coronavirus relief legislation through the House as soon as possible," said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey. 

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The House passed the stopgap bill to extend government funding on a bipartisan 320 to 60 vote. The Senate also passed the bill unanimously after a temporary hold up. All the against votes in both Houses were from Republican lawmakers. 

Meanwhile, the negotiations between the Republicans and Democrats on the COVID-19 stimulus package has hit a stumbling block on several issues, but both parties have assured reaching a deal before the end of this week. The relief package would include funds for vaccine distribution, stimulus checks for millions of Americans, billions of dollars in assistance for small businesses, and funding for other programmes. 

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