Funding patch passes Senate to head off fall shutdown

The Senate easily passed a bipartisan continuing resolution early Saturday morning, likely easing the traditional September rush to head off a partial government shutdown in October. The Senate passed the measure in a lopsided vote of 90-6, and it would extend current funding through Dec. 11. The House won't be back in session until the first week of September. The timing agreement cleared the way for the confirmation of Todd Blanche to be attorney general. The Senate also voted 61-32 to table a Budd/Ricketts amendment to strip a White House-sought provision delaying a federal ban on hemp-derived THC products for roughly a month. The bill blocks until Dec. 11 a federal rule requiring grants to be approved by senior political appointees, closes a Border Patrol funding loophole, excludes a $1 billion Trump-class battleship request, and extends for two years economic pacts with sub-Saharan African countries and with Haiti. Kennedy said there would be a "big fight" over the grant rule in December.