WASHINGTON – A government shutdown was averted Thursday night, after the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill to keep the government from closing down at midnight Friday.
The measure passed the House on a 231-188 vote over Democratic opposition and then cleared the Senate, 66-32, with Democrats from Republican-leaning states providing many of the key votes. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the measure.
The disaster aid package will not get a vote in the Senate until next year. This means there won't be immediate aid for Florida's citrus farmers. Sen. Bill Nelson released a statement saying he was more resolved than ever to get the disaster bill done in January.
"Floridians, especially our citrus farmers, sill need help after Irma," Nelson tweeted.
The bill has traversed a tortured path, encountering resistance from the GOP’s most ardent allies of the military, as well as opposition from Democrats who demanded but were denied a vote on giving immigrants brought to the country as children and in the country illegally an opportunity to become citizens.