The Government Stays Open—But for How Long?
House and Senate Republicans passed a temporary spending measure to avert a shutdown, buying more time for negotiations on a year-end deal with Democrats that could also address immigration and health care.
Updated on December 7 at 6:35 p.m. ET
Congressional Republicans on Thursday paused their drive for tax cuts to tackle a much more prosaic task: They acted to keep the government running for another two weeks.
The vote was not nearly as routine as it might sound, however. Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus threatened to defeat the stopgap spending measure . And Democrats withheld their votes because the bill contained none of their year-end priorities: There were no protections for undocumented immigrants, no reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance
