The US Congress passed a spending bill on Saturday, part of an explosion of concrete activity that will help avert a destabilizing government shutdown ahead of the peak holiday travel season.

The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the bill to continue government funding by a vote of 85-11 38 minutes after it expired at midnight. In the meantime, the government has not resorted to closure procedures.

The bill will now be sent to the White House, where President Joe Biden is expected to sign it.

The package had earlier cleared the Republican-controlled House of Representatives with bipartisan support.

The late-night vote capped a frantic week in which President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk rejected an initial bipartisan deal, throwing Congress into disarray.

The final version removed some provisions championed by Democrats, who accused Republicans of bowing to pressure from an unelected billionaire who has no experience in government.

Congress did not act on Trump’s demand to raise the debt ceiling, a politically difficult task, before he took office on January 20.

The federal government spent about $6.2 trillion last year and has a debt of more than $36 trillion, and Congress will need to act to authorize new borrowing by the middle of next year.

The legislation would extend government funding until March 14, provide $100 billion to disaster-hit states and $10 billion for farmers, and extend farm and food aid programs that expire at the end of the year .

Some Republicans voted against the plan because it did not reduce spending. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the party will have more influence next year, when it has majorities in both houses of Congress and Trump is in the White House.

“This was a necessary step to bridge the gap, to get us to this moment where we can leave our mark on the final spending decisions,” he told reporters after the House vote. He said Trump supported the package.

A government shutdown would have disrupted everything from law enforcement to national parks and suspended the pay of millions of federal workers.

A travel industry trade group has warned it could cost airlines, hotels and other businesses a billion dollars a week and cause widespread disruption over the busy Christmas period. Authorities have warned that travelers could face long queues at airports.

THIRD ATTEMPT

The package resembles a bipartisan plan that was scrapped earlier this week after an online shootout from Trump and Musk, who said it contained too many unrelated provisions, like a pay raise for lawmakers and a crackdown on pharmaceutical benefit managers.

Republicans removed most of those elements from the bill, including a provision limiting investments in China that Democrats said would conflict with Elon Musk’s interests.

“He clearly doesn’t want to answer questions about how much he’s expanding his business in China and how much U.S. technology he plans to sell,” Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro said on the House floor.

Trump has tasked Musk, the world’s richest person, with leading a task force on budget cuts, but he will not hold any official position in Washington.

Musk wrote on his social media platform X that he was happy with the package. “It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces,” he posted.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party still achieved some of its goals and blocked Republicans from passing a debt ceiling hike that would make it easier to cut taxes.

“We have succeeded in meeting the needs of everyday Americans, but there are still things to work on and we look forward to that fight in the new year,” he told reporters.

Trump’s demand to raise the debt ceiling was roundly rejected Thursday by the House of Representatives – including 38 Republicans.

Johnson said lawmakers would consider the issue in January.

Rep. Rich McCormick, one of 34 Republicans who voted against the bill Friday, said it would not change the nation’s fiscal trajectory and would only increase the debt burden.

“We will be the country of the past if we continue doing what we are doing,” he said.

The federal government was last shut down for 35 days during Trump’s first term in the White House due to a dispute over border security.

Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets because a U.S. government default would cause credit shocks around the world. The limit was suspended under an agreement that technically expires Jan. 1, even though lawmakers likely wouldn’t have had to address the issue until spring.

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