House passes spending bill, setting up showdown in the Senate

The U.S. Capitol.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The House on Thursday evening passed a bill that funds the government through Feb. 18, in an attempt to avert a shutdown set to occur Friday at midnight.

The measure passed with a 221-212 vote, and it now heads to the Senate, where conservative Republicans have threatened to block the bill as a way of protesting against vaccine mandates for large companies. The bill has the backing of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), with Schumer saying it was "not easy to reach this deal," adding, "let's be clear, if there is a shutdown, it will be a Republican, anti-vaccine shutdown."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.