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# Congress Averts Shutdown With 335-91 House and 88-9 Senate Votes, Funding Government Through November 17
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/taq-historical-2023-09-30-us/
- Published: 2023-10-01T03:59:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-10-01T03:59:00.000Z
- Description: Congress passed and President Biden signed a 45-day continuing resolution hours before the deadline, keeping agencies open through November 17 while leaving Ukraine aid for a separate fight.
- Author: TAQ Staff
- Tags: US, #Import 2026-09-01 06:01

Congress averted a federal government shutdown Saturday with overwhelming bipartisan votes in both chambers, sending President Joe Biden a 45-day continuing resolution that keeps agencies funded through November 17\. The House passed H.R. 5860 by 335-91 and the Senate followed 88-9 only hours before the fiscal year expired, ending a week in which a lapse in appropriations had appeared increasingly likely.

The [House roll call](https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023513?ref=theamericanquorum.com) showed 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans voting yes, while 90 Republicans and one Democrat voted no. The vote was politically striking because Speaker Kevin McCarthy brought the measure to the floor without the spending cuts sought by a bloc of House conservatives and relied heavily on Democratic votes to pass it.

## A 45-day bridge replaces an immediate shutdown

The measure funds most federal operations at current rates through November 17, giving Congress additional time to finish the 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal 2024\. Representative Hal Rogers, the longtime House appropriator, said in a [September 30 statement](https://halrogers.house.gov/2023/9/congressman-rogers-votes-for-stop-gap-funding-bill-to-keep-the-government-open?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that the bill provides 45 more days for lawmakers to complete full-year spending work and includes $16 billion in supplemental disaster relief.

The Senate moved quickly after the House vote. The chamber’s official [roll call](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll%5Fcall%5Fvotes/vote1181/vote%5F118%5F1%5F00247.htm?ref=theamericanquorum.com) recorded final passage at 88-9\. Senator Susan Collins, the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee, called the result “a victory for common sense” in her [post-vote statement](https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/minority/senator-collins-statement-on-passage-of-continuing-resolution-avoiding-government-shutdown?ref=theamericanquorum.com), arguing that shutdowns disrupt government services, force essential employees to work without immediate pay and impose costs on the broader economy.

The legislation also extends several authorities that were approaching expiration, including Federal Aviation Administration programs and the National Flood Insurance Program, while maintaining assistance programs and other operations that would have been disrupted by a lapse in funding. Representative Rogers said the package also extends healthcare and welfare programs while Congress continues work on the annual spending bills.

## Disaster aid stayed in; new Ukraine funding came out

The continuing resolution includes approximately $16 billion in disaster relief but does not provide new assistance for Ukraine. That tradeoff became one of the central issues in the final hours of negotiations. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a [September 30 statement](https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1777?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that the measure advances critical disaster relief and keeps the government operating, while emphasizing that the administration remains committed to continued support for Ukraine.

Senator Angus King similarly noted in a [statement after passage](https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-votes-to-avoid-government-shutdown-through-short-term-funding-agreement?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that the Senate approved the 45-day bill 88-9 and said he would have preferred Ukraine funding to remain. His comments reflected a bipartisan Senate view that Ukraine assistance should be handled separately rather than allowed to prevent passage of the immediate stopgap.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the final agreement in [floor remarks](https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/majority-leader-schumer-floor-remarks-announcing-a-senate-agreement-to-pass-a-continuing-resolution-and-avert-a-government-shutdown?ref=theamericanquorum.com), saying leaders had agreed to pass the House continuing resolution and would continue pursuing additional economic and security assistance for Ukraine. The agreement allowed the Senate to avoid amendments that could have sent the measure back to the House and consumed the remaining hours before midnight.

## The House coalition exposed a deeper Republican conflict

Although the bill passed by a wide margin, the House vote highlighted the difficulty McCarthy faces inside his conference. Conservatives had spent the week demanding lower spending and policy changes, including border provisions, as conditions for temporary funding. The final bill instead resembled the kind of relatively clean continuing resolution Democrats and Senate leaders had sought, and Democrats supplied most of the votes required for passage.

The immediate consequence is that federal employees, military personnel, air-traffic controllers, law-enforcement officers and workers at agencies across the government will not enter a shutdown period beginning Sunday. Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a [September 30 statement](https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-statement-on-averting-a-government-shutdown?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that the measure avoids disruptions to government services and keeps federal employees and service members working and paid while allowing disaster-relief efforts to proceed.

But the political conflict that produced the deadline remains unresolved. Congress has not enacted the regular appropriations bills needed to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. The 45-day extension simply moves the next deadline to November 17, when the same disagreements over spending levels, policy riders, border measures and Ukraine assistance could return.

## Biden signs the bill before the deadline

President Biden signed H.R. 5860 on September 30, according to the contemporaneous [presidential bill-signing notice](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/press-release-bill-signed-hr-5860?ref=theamericanquorum.com), formally extending appropriations before the midnight cutoff. The act therefore prevents the Office of Management and Budget from ordering agencies to begin shutdown procedures that had been prepared during the week.

The administration had warned that a lapse would interrupt or delay a wide range of federal functions even though employees responsible for protecting life and property would continue working. Past shutdowns have also created backlogs, delayed contracts and grants, closed facilities and required Congress to provide retroactive pay for furloughed employees after funding resumed.

Those effects will not begin this weekend. Instead, agencies will continue operating under temporary funding while appropriators try to convert committee work and chamber-passed measures into final bills. The short duration is intended to preserve pressure on lawmakers to finish that process rather than simply extend current spending for many months.

## The immediate crisis is over, but the funding problem is not

Saturday’s votes are a decisive answer to the immediate question of whether the government will shut down on October 1\. They are not a settlement of the fiscal disputes that created the threat. The House and Senate remain far apart on portions of the annual appropriations package, and the removal of Ukraine funding creates a separate legislative challenge almost immediately.

The vote margins also create political consequences inside the House. A temporary spending bill passed with more Democratic than Republican votes after McCarthy had repeatedly sought a Republican-only path. That may intensify challenges from members who argue that the speaker abandoned commitments on spending, even as supporters say he chose the only available route to keep the government open.

For federal operations, however, the result is unambiguous. The government will open normally on Sunday rather than begin a partial shutdown. Congress has purchased 45 days, maintained disaster assistance and postponed the central spending fight to November 17\. The question now is whether lawmakers use that time to complete full-year funding or arrive at another deadline with the same divisions still intact.