WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Congress passed a bill this week to fund the government beyond the October 1st deadline, but lawmakers will have to deal with several pressing issues in the next month to avoid a shutdown in November.
While all eyes were focused on the House committee hearing about the Presidential Whistleblower, the Senate was quietly working to avoid another government shutdown.
By a vote of 81-16, the Senate approved a plan to continue funding federal government programs until late November.
The stop-gap effort to keep the government from running out of money on Monday met with resistance from some Senate Republicans like Rand Paul.
Paul is one of the 16 senators who voted against the bill and even proposed an amendment to cut 2% percent across the board to try to balance the budget with no success.
“Why are we now about to bust a trillion dollars in deficit this year,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said.
Despite objections from Republicans like Ralph Norman of South Carolina the House has managed to pass 10 of the 12 appropriations bills that pay for everything from defense to Medicaid.
“We don’t have an income problem we have a spending problem,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said.
In an effort to “come together” Senate Appropriations Chairman and Alabama Senator Richard Shelby met with President Trump Friday to talk about a compromise that Republicans, Democrats, and the President can all live with.