Congress Passes Continuing Resolution to Avoid Government Shutdown

On Thursday, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) to continue funding the government through February 18, 2022. Congress had previously passed a spending bill that provided government funding through December 3. Without further action by Congress to extend the funding, the government would have been forced to shut down.

Despite efforts by some Senate Republicans to hold up the legislation unless language was inserted to prevent funding for enforcement of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination rules, the CR ultimately passed the House in a 221-212 vote, with one Republican joining the Democrats, and the Senate with a vote of 69-28, with 19 Republicans joining Democrats to avoid a shutdown.