Fri Dec 20 23:57:19 UTC 2024: ## House Passes Last-Minute Budget Bill, Averts Government Shutdown
**Washington D.C.** – A last-minute budget deal narrowly averted a government shutdown just hours before the deadline. The American Relief Act of 2025 passed the House of Representatives Friday evening with a vote of 366-35, sending the bill to the Senate for final approval before Saturday’s deadline.
The continuing resolution, funding the government through mid-March, excludes the highly contentious debt ceiling issue. President-elect Donald Trump’s opposition to earlier bipartisan bills, which included debt ceiling provisions, led to days of intense negotiations and political maneuvering. Trump had threatened primary challenges to Republicans who supported extending or abolishing the ceiling, framing it as a “trap” set by Democrats. His opposition initially stalled the process, resulting in the failure of two previous bills.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, working to find common ground, ultimately secured passage of the final bill, which includes approximately $10 billion in farm aid and $100 billion in disaster relief. Johnson framed the bill as a victory for Trump’s “America First” platform, suggesting more significant changes to come under the new administration and Republican-controlled Congress.
While the bill’s passage avoided a shutdown, it did not resolve the debt ceiling debate, which is expected to become a major point of contention in the new year. The absence of a debt ceiling resolution marks a significant postponement rather than a solution.
The eleventh-hour passage of the bill was met with mixed reactions. While some, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, praised Speaker Johnson’s efforts, Democrats expressed skepticism, noting that the final bill largely excluded the President-elect’s wishes regarding the debt ceiling. Representative Jared Moskowitz of Florida highlighted the Democrats’ crucial role in securing the bill’s passage, despite internal divisions within the Republican party. The Democrats, he implied, essentially bailed out the Republicans, giving them the votes needed for passage and delivering a result that, according to him, was inevitable from the start. The focus now shifts to the Senate, where the bill is expected to be swiftly approved before the Saturday deadline.
First Piper 