The House met quickly Friday afternoon to pass a continuing spending resolution that would keep the government open through next Wednesday, in anticipation that the Senate will need until early next week to pass a full-year spending bill. It's enough time that the Senate probably won't have to stick around for the weekend.
Late Thursday, the House passed a giant, $1 trillion spending bill, just before the government was due to shut down. But because the Senate needs more time to approve that bill, the House also approved a resolution keeping the government open until the end of Saturday.
Your welcome. The House just gave the Senate several more days to pass a huge $1 trillion spending bill, which might save the Senate from working over the weekend. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
But by Friday, the Senate was warning that it may need more time, so the House quickly convened Friday afternoon and approved another continuing resolution. That language will keep the government funded through the end of December 16, giving the Senate several more days to pass the $1 trillion spending bill.
The resolution may end up preventing the Senate from working over the weekend, something Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been warning about for the last few weeks. In addition to the spending bill, senators are hoping to approve several nominations, and on Friday were working to finish up a defense authorization bill.
In order for the spending extension to take place, the Senate will have to pass the same resolution today, something it was expected to do sometime in the late afternoon or early evening.
Until the House passed the extension, Reid had said he hoped to complete work on the giant spending bill by late Friday.
