Senate Approves Funding Bill to Avert Shutdown
The U.S. Senate approved a short-term funding measure in an overnight vote Saturday, passing a continuing resolution by a margin of 90-6 to keep federal agencies operational through December 11 and avoid a government shutdown during the midterm campaign season. The bill, which AP News reported, funds the government at current levels and represents an unusually early action on a fiscal matter that Congress typically addresses only in the final days before the September 30 deadline.
Unprecedented Timing Reflects Shutdown Fatigue
The late-summer vote marks a significant departure from normal congressional practice. Lawmakers acted nearly two months before the end of the fiscal year, driven by a desire to remove the threat of another shutdown from the political landscape ahead of November’s midterm elections. The 90-6 margin reflected broad bipartisan consensus, with senators still smarting from the two historic shutdowns that occurred over the past year—a record 43-day full shutdown and a 76-day partial shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) made passing the funding measure his top priority before senators departed for a five-week August recess. As the Washington Times reported, Thune wanted the funding dealt with before senators went home to focus on their reelection campaigns.
Hemp Provision Sparks Controversy
The bill includes language delaying a national ban on most intoxicating hemp products by one month, from November 12 to December 11. The provision prompted outrage from some Senate Republicans, including Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who cited a nearly 10-fold increase in cannabis-related emergency room visits by minors in his state since 2017.
“This is a public health crisis that deserves this Senate’s immediate attention,” Budd said. “Our children should never be the testing ground for an industry willing to exploit a loophole in federal law for profit.”
Budd’s effort to strip the hemp delay from the bill was turned aside. The controversy was further fueled by reports that the White House actively lobbied for the delay, with NBC News reporting that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’ son-in-law, Bret Worley, is CEO of MC Nutraceuticals, a major hemp-derived cannabinoid supplier. White House spokesman Kush Desai said Wiles “has never lobbied in favor of this or any other position on hemp with Capitol Hill.”
Trump himself called Budd to discuss the issue, though the president did not specifically ask the senator to drop his effort, according to Budd’s spokesman. The Daily Caller reported that 34 state attorneys general wrote to GOP leaders opposing the delay.
Battleship Funding Rejected, Grants Rule Blocked
Democrats secured language in the bill to prevent the administration from transferring funds to the Border Patrol and rejected the White House’s request for $1 billion for early work on a new “Trump-class” battleship announced in December. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was blunt about the proposal: “The only person who wants these golden ships is Donald Trump so he can slap his name on them.”
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the battleship fleet could cost up to $275 billion through 2056, according to Stars and Stripes.
The bill also blocks, for the duration of the funding patch, new regulations on federal grants that would require a senior political appointee to review awards before they are granted. Democrats and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) secured the provision, with Collins noting that nearly 500,000 people and groups weighed in against the rule.
“They are not interested in making our tax dollars work better—they just want them to work for Donald Trump,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Trump’s Priorities Set Aside
Senate Republicans agreed to set aside, for the moment, President Trump’s demands to approve another budget resolution for new military spending and to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show photo identification. The Senate adjourned without passing either measure, despite Trump’s insistence.
What’s Next
The House passed its own version of the continuing resolution on July 21 by a vote of 220-205, funding the government through December 4. The House will need to approve the Senate’s version when members return from August recess before the measure can go to the president’s desk.
The Senate also confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general in a largely party-line vote before adjourning. Senators are not due to return until September 14.
The funding patch expires December 11, meaning Congress will need to reach agreement on a full-year spending measure before then. The hemp ban delay and the grants rule controversy are expected to remain flashpoints in those negotiations, as is the question of whether Trump’s legislative priorities will gain traction in the weeks ahead.