On Wednesday, September 30, the final day of fiscal year (FY) 2015, Congress passed a two-and-a-half month funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to extend existing funding levels and policy riders through December 11. At that time, Congress will once again face an expiration of government funding, and will need to pass new appropriations legislation for FY 2016 or a second extension of FY 2015 levels to avoid a government shutdown.
The Senate passed the 10-week CR on Wednesday morning by a vote of 78-20. On Wednesday afternoon, the House passed the CR by a vote of 277-151, with all Democrats and over a third of Republicans voting to not shut down the government.
The bill does not include a controversial amendment to defund Planned Parenthood. Prior to House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) surprise announcement last week that he will retire in October, it seemed likely that the government would shutdown on October 1. The most conservative wing of the House Republican Caucus had threatened to launch an effort to strip Boehner of his role as Speaker if he allowed a “clean” CR to move forward.