Senate Approves Measure and Avoids a Government Shutdown, Funds CCC Programs
By Jerry Hagstrom , DTN Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed the continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 11 early Thursday after the Senate passed the bill only hours before the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate vote was 84 to 10. Trump was in Duluth, Minnesota, for a campaign rally Wednesday night, but the White House released a statement shortly after midnight that he had signed the bill upon his return to Washington.
The extension of government funds also closes out the political fight over the Commodity Credit Corp., as the next year of traditional farm-bill programs begins. While the CCC fund was replenished, it now comes with some restrictions that will require notifications to Congress on any extra spending. The bill also prohibits CCC funds from being used to provide payments or aid to fossil-fuel refiners and importers.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan.; Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Hoeven, R-N.D.; Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.; and farm and nutrition groups noted the importance of provisions that allow farm subsidies to continue to flow and hungry Americans to get food.