“Why in the world would we want to shut down government and stop serving the American people?”Ĭollins noted that each of the six bills had been carefully considered by the appropriations committee, so she dismissed some of her colleagues’ complaints that they had not undergone an amendment process. ![]() “Do we really want a veteran who has bravely and loyally served his country, and is now trying to file a claim for benefits, to find that the Veterans Benefits Administration’s doors are closed to him or her? Is that what we want to have happen?” Collins said. Senator Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate appropriations committee, took to the Senate floor on Friday to urge her colleagues to support the bills and prevent a shutdown. Had the shutdown taken effect, funding would have been paused at midnight for the departments of agriculture, commerce, energy, housing and urban development, the interior, justice, transportation and veterans affairs.Ī similar short-term shutdown occurred in 2018, and it had little impact on government agencies because it concluded after under six hours. He said the bill’s passage would allow for the hiring of more air traffic controllers and rail safety inspectors, give federal firefighters a raise and boost support for unhoused veterans, among other things. “To folks who worry that divided government means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise,” said the senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 75-22, as the chamber labored to get to a final vote just hours before the midnight deadline. ![]() Meanwhile, lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense, in an effort to have all federal agencies fully funded by a 22 March deadline. The package now goes to Joe Biden to be signed into law.
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