WASHINGTON , — President , Joe Biden , signed funding legislation to keep the , U. S.  , state working until mid-March, avoiding a year-end closure and kicking potential paying decisions into Donald Trump’s presidency.
The legislation went to Biden first Saturday night after the , Senate , voted 85 to 11 to review the measure, which sailed through the House days earlier.
The last-minute activities — the state was taking first steps to shut down this weekend — capped a tumultuous several times in which two earlier strategies pursued by House Speaker , Mike Johnson , collapsed under pressure from President-elect Trump and , Elon Musk.
Biden’s signature extends government funding through , March 14 , and includes more than$ 100 billion in aid for natural disaster victims and farmers, the , White House , said in a statement.
As the , U. S.  , state teetered on the verge of a holiday closure, national authorities moved forward with arrangements, notifying workers Friday that they might be furloughed. The workers had partially get unpaid while important services like airport screening, air traffic control, and law enforcement would continue during a shutdown.
The late tumult over a short-term saving package that had been expected to be fairly free of play vividly demonstrated both Trump’s authority over fellow , Republicans , and its limitations.
After Trump and his billionaire ally Musk attacked it in social media posts on Wednesday, Republican lawmakers quickly abandoned a bipartisan agreement Johnson had struck. However, when 38 Republican conservatives refused to support a new funding package meant to meet Trump’s demand that the national debt cap be raised or waived before he takes office, it failed.
As the House began voting, Musk publicly supported the funding package, boosting both the bill and the troubled speaker.  , The House , will vote for a new speaker on , Jan. 3 , and restive ultra-conservatives could threaten to unseat Johnson.
” The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances”, Musk said on his social media platform X. ” It changed from a bill that weighed pounds to an ounce bill,” the statement read.
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( With assistance from , Ari Natter , and , Bill Faries. )
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