Key US government agencies will remain funded until the end of September, when the fight over the budget will start again
The United States Senate approved a $1.2 trillion (€1.1 trillion) budget bill to fund the government for the fiscal year, narrowly avoiding a shutdown.
The bill was passed in a 74-24 vote early on Saturday after a midnight deadline.
It will now go to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The package funds key departments including Defense, Homeland Security, Treasury, and State through 30 September.
Republican divide highlighted
This comes aftertemporary funding measures had kept the government running six months into the budget year.
As Republicans and Democrats sparred over proposed amendments to the bill, fears grew on Friday evening of a short-term government shutdown.
But shortly before midnight Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a breakthrough.
“It’s been a very long and difficult day, but we have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government,” Schumer said.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson angered his own party’s right wing by using Democratic votes to advance the package to the Senate, hours earlier.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to call a vote to oust Johnson for allowing the bill to pass.
The Republican-led House of Representatives has ignored a separate Senate-passed bill that includes military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel, which were not covered in the measure.
