US Senate averts shutdown before Midterms, curbs Trump on Border Patrol funds, delays Hemp ban
The US Senate on Saturday (8 August) passed a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown at the end of September, in a bipartisan
The US Senate on Saturday (8 August) passed a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown at the end of September, in a bipartisan effort to head off a major spending skirmish before the midterm elections. Senate vote passes 90-6 to fund government through December Senators approved the stopgap measure by 90 votes to six, with one member voting present, extending current funding levels well past the original 30 September deadline. The bill also blocks the Trump administration from shifting funds toward Border Patrol, a restriction Democrats had made a condition of their support. Also Read | US Senate panel holds Anthony Fauci in contempt over Covid hearing Whether the agreement, hashed out among senators, can clear the House remains uncertain, though members there are said to share the same reluctance to risk a shutdown before November. What stood out as much as the vote itself was its timing.
Congress has grown accustomed to funding fights that go down to the wire, but this bill passed with more than a month to spare. Two shutdowns within the past year, combined with the political pressure of an approaching election, appear to have concentrated minds early. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, framed the vote as a lesson learned. "After three unnecessary lapses in funding during the fiscal year 2026 cycle, putting the possibility of yet another harmful shutdown off the table should be a priority for each and every one of us," she said. Stopgap funding bill blocks Trump from redirecting Border Patrol money For Democrats, the bill's restriction on redirecting money to Border Patrol carried particular weight. The issue sat at the centre of the previous shutdown, and its inclusion this time was treated by the party as a meaningful concession.
Also Read | Trump seen as growing political liability by Senate Republicans: Report Patty Murray of Washington, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, described the bill as buying time for tougher negotiations ahead. "This is an important step forward to prevent a shutdown no one wants and provide the runway we need to negotiate funding bills in the months ahead as we fight to rein in Trump's corruption and make life more affordable for families back home," she said. Intoxicating hemp product ban delay sparks Republican revolt The smoothest part of the process was not the funding itself but a late addition concerning intoxicating hemp products, inserted into the bill at Trump's request. The provision delays by a month a ban on such products that Congress had approved and Trump had signed into law the previous year, a ban that was due to take effect in November.
The BriefWire