FILE - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference following a Senate Democratic luncheon at the U.S.
Capitol on Sept. 28, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)WASHINGTON - The Senate passed a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a partial government shutdown when the current fiscal year ends at midnight Friday and provide another infusion of military and economic aid to Ukraine as it seeks to repel Russia's brutal invasion.The bill finances the federal government through Dec.
16 and buys lawmakers more time to agree on legislation setting spending levels for the 2023 fiscal year. It passed by a vote of 72-25 and now goes to the House for consideration.As has become routine, lawmakers waited until the final hours before the shutdown deadline to act.
But passage of a bill to fund the government was hardly in doubt, particularly after Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin agreed to drop provisions designed to streamline the permitting process for energy projects and greenlight the approval of a pipeline in his home state of West Virginia.