Joe Biden signed a bill that will fund the federal government in the short term late Thursday night, punting the deadline for a partial shutdown that would have begun at midnight to December 3. The House and Senate had passed the legislation, which also includes billions for communities affected by natural disasters and for the resettlement of Afghan refugees, in recent days. The move comes amid high-stakes negotiations on Capitol Hill over raising the federal government’s debt limit to avoid a looming catastrophic default and infrastructure bills that total nearly $5 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. After Republicans vowed to vote against the larger of the two bills, a far-reaching $3.5 trillion package that would expand the social safety net, the main focus of Democratic congressional leadership became bridging rifts between became moderate and progressive Democrats.
