The lopsided vote represents a rare moment of cooperation in a Congress where Democrats and Republicans have repeatedly collided over President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.
It also means Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and his caucus are once again backing legislation that prevents a government shutdown rather than forcing a high-stakes funding confrontation with Republicans ahead of an election.
The legislation now heads toward negotiations with the House, which previously approved its own temporary funding package. The two chambers agree on the basic goal of keeping the government open, but they disagree on several important details.
Most notably, the House bill would extend government funding through Dec. 4. The Senate legislation pushes that deadline one week further, to Dec. 11.
Senate leaders moved quickly Saturday after reaching a bipartisan agreement that allowed lawmakers to finish consideration of the measure before leaving Washington for the August recess.
But avoiding an October shutdown does not mean Congress has settled its biggest spending and policy fights.
Instead, lawmakers have effectively postponed them.
One major battle involves the Trump administration’s effort to give political appointees more influence over the federal grant approval process.
Under the Senate package, the administration would temporarily be prevented from implementing the proposed change while the continuing resolution remains in effect.
That provision immediately exposed divisions between the White House and some lawmakers over how much control the executive branch should have over the massive federal grant system.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has indicated he will fight efforts to permanently restrict the administration’s proposal.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), however, made clear she remains opposed to the Trump administration’s approach.
Collins said she will “continue to oppose” the Trump administration plans “because I think they politicize the grants process, and I don’t want that to occur.”
Democrats are also preparing for a fight.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has signaled that she intends to challenge the administration’s proposed grant changes when lawmakers return to the issue.
Another dispute erupted over intoxicating hemp products.
Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) offered an amendment that would have permitted a federal prohibition on intoxicating hemp products to begin in November.
The Senate rejected that effort.
Instead, Senate leaders included language — reportedly requested by the Trump administration — that would postpone implementation of the prohibition.
Immigration enforcement could become an even bigger obstacle when the legislation reaches the House.
The Senate package does not provide additional temporary funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Congress previously approved roughly $70 billion for the agencies earlier this year, and senators declined to add another infusion of money through the stopgap package.
Some House Republicans are already warning that the language could cause trouble.
Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.) said the provision “could be a dealbreaker.”
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) also expressed concerns, particularly about restrictions involving the administration’s federal grant policy.
“I do not like the Senate language,” Van Drew said, noting the grant approval provision. “It’s one I would want to know what the president thinks.”
Trump’s White House, however, has already thrown its support behind the Senate continuing resolution.
The administration issued a formal Statement of Administration Policy endorsing the Senate legislation, while no comparable statement was issued in support of the House version.
The White House urged lawmakers to put the immediate funding battle aside and keep the federal government operating while negotiations continue over full-year appropriations.
“Every Member of Congress should support passage of this [continuing resolution] to keep the Government open as discussions on full year appropriations continue,” the statement said.
That endorsement could make it harder for House Republicans to derail the Senate package despite their objections to individual provisions.
Democrats, meanwhile, are celebrating several elements of the Senate legislation.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, praised the package because it temporarily prevents the Trump administration from moving ahead with its proposed grant reforms while withholding another round of temporary money for immigration enforcement.
“This bill is a clear improvement over the House Republican continuing resolution, but we are still nearly two months away from the end of the fiscal year and should be working together to pass full-year funding bills,” she said in a statement, per Politico.
The result leaves Republicans with an unusual political calculation.
The Trump administration wants the Senate bill passed and the threat of an October shutdown removed. At the same time, conservatives in the House may balk at accepting restrictions on presidential authority and language that provides no additional stopgap funding for ICE and border enforcement.
For Schumer and Senate Democrats, the vote removes another politically explosive shutdown deadline from the calendar immediately before the midterms.
For Republicans, it means the next major spending confrontation could arrive in December — after Americans have already decided who will control Congress.
And with the House and Senate still divided over the details, Saturday’s 90-6 vote did not end Washington’s spending war.
It merely changed the date of the next battle.
