The threat of a government shutdown has been averted again—or punted to before Christmas, depending on how you think about it:
After the House passed the measure by unanimous consent on Thursday, the Senate quickly took it up and passed it on a voice vote. That gives Trump more than 24 hours to sign the legislation before the current stopgap providing funding for those sections of government expires on Friday at midnight. Without the new stopgap in place, a partial shutdown of operations at those agencies would begin at 12:01 a.m.
Trump’s wall funding demands will remain a major sticking point, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer willing to talk about $1.6 billion in funding while House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi rejects that and Trump demands more. The three are expected to meet on Tuesday.