Senators unveil bill to avoid shutdown

Senate negotiators on Tuesday unveiled a 79-page bill to fund the government until Nov. 17 in hopes of averting a shutdown when current funding expires this weekend.  

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) described the measure as a “bridge” to avoid a shutdown and give lawmakers more time to negotiate a longer-term funding solution.  

“Senate Democrats and Republicans, together, worked in good faith to reach an agreement on a continuing resolution that will keep the government open beyond Sept. 30,” the Democratic leader said on the floor.  

He acknowledged the agreement “won’t have everything that both sides want” but argued it “will help us to achieve our immediate and necessary goal of avoiding a government shutdown.”

The bill includes $4.5 billion from an Operations and Maintenance fund for the Defense Department “to remain available until Sept. 30, 2024 to respond to the situation in Ukraine,” according to the measure’s text.  

The bill also includes another $1.65 billion in State Department funding for additional assistance to Ukraine that would be available until Sept. 30, 2025.

That amount is matched by $5.99 billion in disaster relief funding to replenish federal accounts depleted by responding to flooding in Vermont, hurricane damage in Florida and wildfire damage in Hawaii, to name some of the natural disasters that have hit the country in recent months. 

The money is slated for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund, which is projected to have only $550 million left in its coffers by month’s end.  

The legislation also temporarily extends the Federal Aviation Administration’s expiring authority.

Updated at 5:30 p.m.