In a landmark move, the US House and Senate passed a clean stopgap spending bill on Saturday, avoiding a government shutdown and concluding a tumultuous three weeks in Congress that threatened to halt funding. The continuing resolution maintains current spending levels until November 17 and allocates $16 billion in disaster relief. Notably, the bill does not include funding for Ukraine, which had been sought by the White House and Democrats, nor does it address GOP provisions for border security. While the lack of Ukraine aid drew criticism from both parties, the bill was ultimately supported by the majority of House Republicans and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who successfully avoided blame for a potential shutdown.
Hardline conservatives were a significant winner in the funding fight, as they succeeded in getting Ukraine aid excluded from the stopgap bill. Although Congress generally supports aid to Ukraine, Senate and House Democrats, along with Senate Republicans including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, agreed to pass a stopgap bill without funding for Kyiv just hours before the funding deadline. McConnell, known for being attuned to his conference, went along with the majority who wanted to move forward with the 47-day funding bill, saving the government from a potentially damaging shutdown.
On the other hand, Congressional Democrats were disappointing with the exclusion of Ukraine funding from the bill, as it has been an important priority for the party. Despite this setback, their support for the stopgap bill saved Speaker McCarthy from an embarrassing defeat and averted a shutdown that they would have been blamed for. President Biden also experienced a loss in the funding fight, as he wanted to allocate more money to Ukraine, especially after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House recently. Nevertheless, he managed to avoid blame as the funding bill helped stave off a shutdown, which was something he wanted to prevent amidst declining poll numbers.
Representative Matt Gaetz and fiscal conservatives emerged as the losers in the funding fight. Gaetz, who threatened to oust McCarthy if a clean stopgap bill was presented, failed to gain any significant victories and earned enemies among his Republican colleagues. Fiscal conservatives, who were looking to use the funding deadline as an opportunity to implement spending cuts and policy concessions, suffered a major defeat as McCarthy introduced a stopgap bill that maintained current spending levels. While they secured agreement from GOP leadership for future spending cuts, they fear being overruled by the Senate. Lastly, the absence of Ukraine funding dealt a blow to supporters of the measure, raising uncertainty about the future of funding for Kyiv and prompting calls for the Biden administration to discuss the issue with Republicans.
Although the funding fight was characterized by winners and losers, ultimately, the passage of the stopgap bill ensured that the government remains funded until November 17, averting a shutdown that had been looming.