Congress voted on Monday to end a three-day US government shutdown, approving the latest short-term funding bill as Democrats accepted promises from Republicans for a broad debate later on the future of young illegal immigrants.
The fourth temporary funding bill since October easily passed the Senate and the House of Representatives.
President Donald Trump later in the evening signed the measure, largely a product of negotiations among Senate leaders.
Enactment by Trump of the bill allowed the government to reopen fully on Tuesday and keep the lights on through February 8, when the Republican-led Congress will have to revisit budget and immigration policy, two disparate issues that have become closely linked.
The House approved the funding bill by a vote of 266-150 just hours after it passed the Senate by a vote of 81-18.
Trump’s attempts to negotiate an end to the shutdown with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer collapsed on Friday in recriminations and finger pointing.
The Republican president took a new swipe at Democrats as he celebrated the Senate’s pact. Immigration and the budget are entangled because of Congress’ failure to approve a full-scale budget on time by Oct. 1, 2017, just weeks after Trump summarily ordered an end by March to Obama-era legal protections for young immigrants known as the “Dreamers.”
