The government shut down at midnight, but this time, Congress passed the bill needed to reopen it within hours—and the bill passed will fund the government for two years, not just a matter of weeks.
The Senate, which began voting at 1:30 a.m. Friday, approved the deal 71 to 28. The vote was closer in the House, which voted at about 5:30 a.m. on Friday, but it passed, 240 to 186.
The shutdown will end up being just hours long and cause minimal disruption after the House followed suit with the Senate to pass the two-year budget package, which includes funding to keep the government running through March 23.
The bill now goes to the president’s desk, where he is expected to sign it and officially end the shutdown later Friday morning.
That hours-long shutdown came to you courtesy of Rand Paul’s sour-faced stand on his fake principles about the debt, less than two months after he voted to explode the federal budget with the Republican tax scam.
The deal doesn’t provide an answer for the Dreamers, with the clock ticking on their futures in the only country they’ve ever known. Here’s what it does:
The two-year budget deal would lift caps on defense and non-defense spending by $300 billion over two years. It also includes: $6 billion to fight the opioid crisis; $5.8 billion for child care development block grants;$4 billion for veterans medical facilities; $2 billion for medical research; $20 billion to augment existing infrastructure programs; and $4 billion for college affordability.
So now that that’s done, a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers can be the next order of business for Congress. Right? RIGHT?