Picture courtesy of CNBC
On Friday, March 8th, the US Senate passed the $460 billion bill to allow the government to release funding to federal agencies.
President Joe Biden had to sign the bill into law before midnight, in order to beat the official Friday deadline.
The bill had delayed for months in the House of Representatives, owing to opposition from the Republican Party. Nevertheless, a majority of representatives passed the bill on March 3rd 2024.
The government departments set to benefit from the funding include housing, veteran affairs, the military, energy, among others.
The GOP had insisted on cutting spending to federal agencies, and this time, as many other times, they tried to push their own agendas as they bargained with the Democrats.
Once the bill went to the Senate, President Joe Biden hoped that enough number of GOP legislators would realize the importance of passing the bill, and hence vote alongside the Democrats. He even alluded to that fact during the 2024 State of the Union address.
It was a relief when just a couple of hours before the deadline, the Senate decisively voted to pass the government spending bill by 75 to 22.