President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the stopgap spending bill into law, averting a shutdown for now and setting up a contentious fight over funding in the new year.
The measure, which passed both chambers with bipartisan support in a major victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson, is an unusual two-step plan that sets up two new shutdown deadlines in January and February.
The plan is not a full-year spending bill and only extends funding until January 19 for priorities including military construction, veterans’ affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department. The rest of the government – anything not covered by the first step – will be funded until February 2.
I agree that kicking the can down the road isn’t going to help anything at this juncture, but it isn’t a good idea to fund the government for the next 100 years. The world changes drastically pretty much every year at this point, and funding needs to change with it. We just need actual adults as representatives so it doesn’t take the entire legislative session to do the basic upkeep of our nation.