H.R. 10545, also dubbed the “American Relief Act,” would extend funding for federal-government operations at current levels through March 14, 2025, thereby averting a partial government shutdown that would otherwise have begun on December 21, 2024. The bill would also provide $110 billion for disaster aid, including $30.8 billion for farm losses, among other provisions. It does not include, however, a two-year suspension of the debt limit that was in an earlier version under a different bill number (H.R. 10515). Ironically, President-elect Donald Trump wanted the debt-limit suspension in the bill, but Democrats did not — the latter preferring to raise or suspend the debt limit under Trump’s (not Biden’s) watch.
The Senate passed (and thus cleared for the president to sign) the stop-gap funding bill on December 21, 2024 by a vote of 85 to 11 (Roll Call 339). We have assigned pluses to the nays because the misnamed American Relief Act will continue the Washington spendathon, thereby continuing to run up government debt without providing any relief. Instead of kicking the can further down the road, Congress must cut spending now, not later.
