U.S Senator’s Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan independently released statements on Saturday after voting in favor of H.R. 5680, legislation that continues funding for the federal government for the next 47 days while renewing the expiring authorizations of key federal programs.
“Today, sanity prevailed. At the last minute, Congress came together to avert an irresponsible shutdown that would have harmed thousands of Alaskans. Now, the federal government will remain open, giving us more time to work on Appropriations bills through the regular order process. Our military will continue to be paid, federal employees will continue to work, and no services will be interrupted during this period,” Senator Murkowski said.
“I supported this short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown and give the House and Senate another 45 days to negotiate a longer-term, more substantive funding agreement,” said Senator Sullivan. “Importantly, today’s vote means our troops will continue to get paid as they defend our country—a priority I’ve been fighting for in spite of consistent opposition from Democratic leadership in the Senate. I’ll continue working, during these next 45 days, to ensure we have serious measures to secure our southern border in the wake of President Biden’s total dereliction of duty, and necessary funding to address the myriad of national security threats our country faces in this new era of authoritarian aggression.”
The CR funds the federal government through November 17. It also extends the expiring authorizations for critical agencies and programs, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Community Health Centers, and the National Flood Insurance Program. To address recent disasters, the CR provides an additional $16 billion to refill FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, along with authority to spend existing funds at an adequate rate to respond to ongoing needs.
While supporting the short-term CR, Murkowski expressed disappointment that it does not do more to provide military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine or address the growing crisis at the southern border.
“Our first priority is to keep our government open, because we can’t do much of anything or help anyone else if it is shut down. If you care about support for Ukraine as I do, or providing security at our southern border as I do, then we have to keep the government operating in order to do so,” Murkowski said.
The 88-9 senate vote, which acts as a temporary stopgap bill to continue funding for the federal government, was passed hours before the midnight shutdown deadline.