Congress averted a federal government shutdown Thursday with only hours to spare, approving a short-term spending measure that keeps agencies operating through December 3 and provides emergency money for disaster recovery and Afghan resettlement. President Joe Biden signed the legislation Thursday evening before government funding expired at midnight.

The Senate passed the amended H.R. 5305 by a bipartisan 65-35 vote. The House then agreed to the Senate version 254-175, with all voting Democrats and 34 Republicans supporting the measure. The votes removed an immediate shutdown threat that had forced federal agencies to prepare contingency plans during a week already crowded with fights over infrastructure, social spending and the debt ceiling.

Biden said in his signing statement that the law demonstrated bipartisan work was possible and gave Congress more time to complete full-year appropriations. But the reprieve is temporary: lawmakers must return to the same funding question before December 3.

The final bill separated government funding from the debt ceiling

The measure that became law differs from the version the House passed nine days earlier. Democrats initially attached a suspension of the debt limit through December 2022 to the continuing resolution, but Senate Republicans blocked that combined package Monday. Congressional leaders then stripped out the borrowing provision and negotiated a funding bill that could attract enough Republican votes to clear the Senate’s 60-vote procedural threshold.

The final Public Law 117-43 continues most federal programs at existing funding rates through December 3. It also extends several expiring authorities and provides emergency appropriations tied to recent natural disasters and the evacuation and resettlement of Afghans following the U.S. military withdrawal.

Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, called the outcome a straightforward bipartisan funding agreement. In a statement after passage, he said the measure would keep government operating while giving lawmakers additional time to negotiate fiscal 2022 appropriations.

Democrats accepted separation of the debt ceiling from the funding bill because the shutdown deadline was immovable. The federal fiscal year ended Thursday, and without enactment agencies would have lacked authority to continue many routine operations beginning Friday.

Disaster and Afghan assistance helped build bipartisan support

Beyond ordinary agency funding, the law provides tens of billions of dollars in emergency disaster relief following Hurricane Ida, wildfires and other recent events. It also includes billions to support Afghan evacuees arriving in the United States after the end of the 20-year war.

Those additions gave the measure policy content beyond simple continuation of current spending. They also made a shutdown over the bill more difficult to justify for lawmakers whose states and agencies depend on emergency resources.

A CBS News report before the vote said the revised measure provided roughly $28.6 billion in disaster assistance and about $6.3 billion connected to Afghan resettlement. Senate leaders also agreed to allow votes on amendments sought by Republicans, clearing the way for final passage without allowing those disputes to derail the underlying funding bill.

The Washington Post reported that federal agencies had spent recent days preparing for a possible shutdown, including plans to protect essential public-health and safety functions. Those preparations became unnecessary once Biden signed the measure.

The debt limit remains the more dangerous unresolved deadline

Avoiding a shutdown does not solve the second fiscal confrontation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress this week that the department expects to exhaust extraordinary measures around October 18 if lawmakers do not raise or suspend the debt limit. At that point, the government could be unable to meet all obligations already authorized by law.

The distinction is important. A shutdown disrupts programs because appropriations expire. A debt-limit breach would threaten the government’s ability to finance existing commitments, including payments to beneficiaries, contractors, bondholders and federal employees. The latter has never occurred and could create far broader financial-market consequences.

The administration’s original policy statement on H.R. 5305 argued that suspending the debt limit was a bipartisan responsibility because the borrowing authority finances obligations accumulated under both parties. Republicans maintain that Democrats, who control Congress and are pursuing a large domestic-policy package, should raise the ceiling without Republican votes.

That stalemate continues even as the shutdown threat recedes. The House has approved separate debt-limit legislation, but Senate Republicans have signaled they will not provide the votes needed to advance it under normal procedures.

December 3 is now the next appropriations deadline

The continuing resolution is designed to buy time, not settle the budget. Congress has yet to complete the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund federal departments and agencies for the fiscal year that began Friday. Negotiators will now have about nine weeks to reach broader agreement or pass another temporary extension.

That compressed calendar overlaps with the administration’s infrastructure and social-policy agenda, making congressional floor time unusually scarce. Democratic leaders are also managing disagreements within their own party over the size and sequencing of those bills.

The immediate achievement is nevertheless significant for federal workers and the public: offices remain open, benefit administration continues and agencies do not have to execute furlough plans. A contemporaneous AP report described the final votes as a last-minute resolution of one crisis while the separate borrowing fight remained unresolved.

Congress has therefore traded a shutdown measured in hours for two deadlines measured in weeks. The government is funded through December 3. The debt ceiling may demand action much sooner. Thursday’s bipartisan vote proves lawmakers can act quickly when the clock is nearly exhausted; the coming weeks will show whether they can do so before the next crisis reaches that point.