Biden Punts closes deadline until December with interim funding measure

Joe Biden signed a bill that will fund the federal government in the short term on Thursday night, pushing back the deadline for a partial shutdown that would have started at midnight until December 3. The House and Senate had passed the law, which also includes billions for communities affected by natural disasters and for the resettlement of Afghan refugees, in recent days. The move comes amid high-stakes negotiations on Capitol Hill over raising the federal government’s debt limit to avoid catastrophic default and infrastructure bills that total nearly $ 5,000 billion. of federal spending over the next decade. After Republicans pledged to vote against the larger of the two bills, a sweeping $ 3.5 trillion package that would expand the social safety net, the primary focus of the Democratic Congressional leadership became to bridge the gap between Democrats who have become moderate and progressive.