House Democrats passed a bill Tuesday evening to avert a government shutdown and suspend the debt limit. But with less than two weeks before a September 30 deadline to keep funding the government, Senate Republicans have said they will not support a suspension of the debt ceiling, meaning critical funding for health, housing, education and other programs could still be interrupted, and some federal workers could stop receiving paychecks. The bill also includes funds for emergency recovery assistance for recent climate disasters and for resettling Afghan evacuees.
Under pressure from progressive lawmakers, Democrats removed $1 billion in Israeli military funding from the stopgap bill, though Democratic leaders said funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system would still be passed separately at a later date.