Government shuts down and reopens overnight

WASHINGTON—While most Americans slept Friday morning the government shut down and reopened again. The House of Representatives voted 240-186 at 5:30 a.m. in favor of reopening the government after federal funding lapsed at midnight. Late Thursday, the Senate attempted to avoid a shutdown and asked for unanimous consent to move a vote to fund the government ahead of the midnight deadline. But Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., refused to go along and senators had to wait until 1 a.m. to pass the budget proposal, per chamber rules. Paul wanted Senate leaders to grant a vote on an amendment to the bill that would maintain strict budget caps and keep the federal debt limit in place. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused and lawmakers had to stay late into the night before casting votes on the bipartisan bill. The upper chamber passed the spending package 71-28 just before 2 a.m. and sent the bill over to the House for its predawn approval. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law this morning. The legislation, which increases government spending by close to $300 billion over the next two years, extends government funding until March 23, giving lawmakers time to appropriate dollars within set limits. Conservative and liberal lawmakers rejected the budget for different reasons. Some Republicans balked at running up the national deficit, while Democrats demanded commitments on a bipartisan immigration bill. In all, 67 House Republicans voted against the measure and only 73 Democrats voted in favor of it. This was the second government shutdown in the last three weeks.