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House Approves ‘Stop-Gap Spending Bill’ To Prevent Government Shut Down

The House approved late Tuesday night a stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.

The bill was passed on  a 359-57-1 vote. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not vote yes or no, but said  “present.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier announced that Democrats had reached a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to prevent a government shutdown and fund the government until December 11.

For its part, the Senate will be voting on the measure by the end of the week. From there, it will go to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. 

The stopgap measure must pass by Oct. 1 if U.S. agencies are to remain open.

The move will add $8 billion for food and nutrition assistance programs. It will also fund farmers and the agriculture community with increased accountability measures.

In a statement, Speaker Pelosi said, “We have reached an agreement with Republicans on the CR to add nearly $8 billion in desperately needed nutrition assistance for hungry schoolchildren and families. We also increase accountability in the Commodity Credit Corporation, preventing funds for farmers from being misused for a Big Oil bailout.”

She continued, “To help the millions of families struggling to keep food on the table during the pandemic, Democrats have renewed the vital, expiring lifeline of Pandemic EBT for a full year and enabled our fellow Americans in the territories to receive this critical nutrition assistance. Democrats secured urgently needed assistance for schoolchildren to receive meals despite the coronavirus’s disruption of their usual schedules, whether virtual or in-person, and expanded Pandemic EBT access for young children in child care. We also extended key flexibility for states to lower administrative requirements on SNAP for families in the middle of this crisis.”

However, a senior House Democratic aide warned that the bill “may get stuck in the Senate” after House passage. This will create an impasse and could lead to missing the deadline set for the end of the month.

Despite the disagreements, both Pelosi and McConnell said they don’t want to see a government shutdown by September 30th, with the presidential election just a few weeks away.

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