Senate Passes Continuing Resolution to Fund Government Through December

In an early-morning vote on Saturday, the Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) 90-6 to keep the federal government operating until Dec. 11, averting a shutdown ahead of the midterm elections. The bill now moves to the House, which is expected to consider it when it returns from recess later in August. Federal funding would otherwise lapse at the end of September.

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The CR includes a White-House-requested provision that postpones the ban on hemp-derived THC products such as delta-8 until December. Republicans debated the addition for hours, and a separate amendment to remove the delay—led by Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.)—was tabled 61-32. The measure also freezes a White House Office of Management and Budget rule that would give political appointees greater authority over the distribution of congressionally funded grants, a change championed by Senate Appropriations Chair Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats have been clear about funding the government, avoiding a shutdown, and passing bipartisan appropriations that improve lives. Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito called the vote “the most important thing” for preventing a shutdown, emphasizing the need to keep the issue off the table before the elections. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) warned he would turn to budget reconciliation if Democrats blocked the CR, underscoring the bipartisan urgency to avoid another protracted standoff.

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A handful of senators—Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—voted against the measure. Critics objected to the hemp-product delay, arguing it would keep unregulated intoxicants on the market despite a sharp rise in pediatric cannabis poisoning cases. Sen. Ted Budd warned that Congress had previously voted to ban such products, citing a 461-percent increase in emergency-department visits among children four years old or younger.

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• “I think it’s the most important thing for us to do,” — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.)

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