Trump Signs Bill to Avoid Shutdown During Election

Federal funding ran out at midnight
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 1, 2020 7:06 AM CDT
Trump Signs Bill to Avoid Shutdown During Election
President Trump gives a thumbs-up as he walks from Marine One to the White House in Washington, early Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, as he returned from a campaign stop in Minnesota.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Federal funding ran out when the new fiscal year started at midnight, which would normally trigger a shutdown—but agencies waited for President Trump to return from a Minnesota rally and sign a stopgap spending bill. A similar funding lapse happened "with little consequence" for a few hours in February 2018, the Hill notes. The spending bill, which passed the House last week and was approved by the Senate in an 84-10 vote Wednesday evening, provides funds to keep the government open through Dec. 11, avoiding a shutdown just weeks before the election, reports Reuters.

The Office of Management and Budget warned federal agencies Wednesday that the measure, which keeps agencies running at current funding levels, might not be signed until after the deadline, Politico reports. The stopgap measure was necessary because the Senate has not acted on any of the 12 annual discretionary spending bills that fund around 30% of the government, reports the AP. The House passed 10 of the bills months ago. In their post-election, lame-duck session, Congress will either have to pass a massive spending package or another stopgap extension. Politico notes that the former could be an "enormous lift," since it will possibly coincide "with a presidential transition and an exodus of lawmakers eager to leave town after losing reelection." (More government shutdown stories.)

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