WASHINGTON - Congress gave final approval Friday to a short-term spending package to keep the government open through mid-December and President Biden signed it soon afterward, staving off a midnight shutdown and sending about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine.
The House passed the measure less than 12 hours before funding was set to lapse. It will keep the government open through Dec. 16, giving lawmakers time to iron out their considerable differences over the dozen annual spending bills.
The package included a third tranche of aid to Ukraine for its battle with Russia, on top of a total of about $54 billion approved earlier this year. With Friday's vote, Congress has now committed more military aid to Ukraine than it has to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War, reflecting a remarkable bipartisan consensus in favor of pouring huge amounts of U.S. resources into the fight as the nation seeks to reclaim more of its territory from Russia.
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Still, most House Republicans opposed the measure, which passed on a largely party-line vote of 230-201. Ten Republicans joined every present Democrat in voting for the legislation.
Passage of the bill met the last legislative deadline facing Congress before the November midterm elections. Lawmakers, eager to return the campaign trail, vowed to address outstanding disputes in the annual legislation as part of an increasingly packed to-do list for when the House and Senate return in November.
