Political and Legislative
The Senate Dodges a December Government Shutdown
The Senate averted a government shutdown that would have thrown President Biden’s agenda into limbo when Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) struck a deal late Thursday with conservative Senate Republicans to fund the government until February.
The last-minute deal gives senators some hope that Congress isn’t completely dysfunctional and that another imminent standoff over raising the nation’s debt limit can be resolved in the same way without much carnage.
In the end, senators on both sides of the aisle realized that a government shutdown — even a temporary one — would anger the public and both parties would wind up taking the blame.
