The Senate passed a further continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through January 19, 2018, and avoid a shutdown today. The measure overcame opposition from Democrats and conservatives with a 66-32 vote. GOP leadership won over 8 moderate Democrats while Republican senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) voted against the stopgap funding measure, and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was unable to cast a vote.
Many prominent Democrats refused to support the must-pass spending bill, threatening a government shutdown, without long-term funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or language granting long-term legal status for DREAMers. The bill includes funding for CHIP through March 2018, but Democrats want a five-year extension of the program in the CR, along with the DREAM Act, which provides protections for DREAMers. The CR will allow Congress to break for the holidays before resuming funding negotiations for Democratic priorities and defense programs.
Now that Congress has passed the CR, President Trump will sign the stopgap funding bill into law at the earliest opportunity. In addition, President Trump is now expected to sign the Republican tax plan tomorrow before he departs for Christmas in Mar-A-Lago. President Trump was initially withholding his signature until January 3, 2018 to give Republicans time to address language in the Pay As You Go Act, which would trigger an automatic $25 billion cut to Medicare to offset the tax bill’s $1.5 trillion hit to the deficit.