Biden signs bill that averts a government shutdown and brings a close to days of Washington upheaval

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averts a government shutdown, bringing a final close to days of upheaval after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just past the deadline and refused President-elect Donald Trump’s core debt demands in the package.

The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

“This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted,” Biden said in a statement, adding that “it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity. That’s good news for the American people.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was "a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker's gavel.

One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.

Yet Trump's last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it's far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The Capitol is pictured in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., talks with reporters after attending a meeting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House works on a spending bill to avert a shutdown of the Federal Government, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

The Capitol is pictured in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters after passing the funding bill to avert the government shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., celebrates as the Senate begins voting on the government funding bill just in time to meet the midnight deadline, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — At Scoma’s Restaurant in San Francisco, this holiday season 's batch of eggnog began 11 months ago.

The process typically starts in late January, just after the previous year's celebrations are over. Nearly a thousand egg yolks, gallons upon gallons of heavy cream and roughly $1,000 worth of vanilla beans are mixed with sugar and a mega-cocktail of sherry, brandy and aged rum. The concoction is then stored at 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) and and gets stirred weekly for months.

Is it worth the wait? Customer Phil Kenny seems to think so.

“It’s a wonderful, specialty drink," Kenny said of Scoma's recipe, which has been honed in recent years to take advantage of the boozy beverage’ s aging process. "This takes eggnog to a different level.”

Kenny and his wife, Laurie, aren't the only ones enjoying it this year.

“A drink that you would sort of associate with grandma and grandpa on the holidays has become like a cult favorite here," Gordon Drysdale, Scoma’s culinary director, said earlier this month. "We did not ever anticipate people actually being mad at us because we didn’t have it.”

Eggnog's roots date back to medieval England and a drink called “posset,” which included hot milk or cream, alcohol and spices. Recipes have evolved in the centuries since then, and non-dairy and alcohol-free options abound in recent years. But some — like the formula for the famous eggnog daiquiri at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans — stay the same, and remain secret.

“I like to say it’s a little Christmas magic," said Jamie Gourges, marketing manager for the open-air bar in the city's iconic French Quarter. “We do not disclose any of our recipes at any point but it is delicious.”

Gourges will say, though, that theirs is made fresh each morning from right after Thanksgiving until Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany, on Jan. 6. It's a tradition going back some 20 years at an establishment that was built in the early 1700s. Naturally, it's haunted by French pirate and privateer Jean Lafitte, who based his smuggling operations near New Orleans.

Terry Wittmer, who lives in the Big Easy, is a regular customer and loves the holiday season at the bar.

“It tastes like Christmas. It’s a little cinnamon-y. It’s smooth and if you drink it too fast you might get a brain freeze,” Wittmer said. “I live a block away so I’m here every day but I’m happier during Christmas.”

Even for tourists who came for the bar's signature "purple drank” daiquiri, the holiday beverage beckons.

"It’s not going to have a problem going down, let’s put it that way,” Cheryl Abrigo of Florida said as she sipped hers.

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Smith reported from New Orleans and Dazio reported from Los Angeles.

A glass of eggnog, which is prepared 11 months in advance, is shown at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

Jamie Gourgues, marketing manager of Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, prepares an eggnog daiquiri in New Orleans on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith)

Bottle of eggnog, which is prepared 11 months in advance, is shown at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

A glass of eggnog, which is prepared 11 months in advance, is shown at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Tuesday, Dec.10, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

An eggnog daiquiri is shown at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith)

Phil and Laurie Kenny drink eggnog at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2024. The eggnog is prepared 11 months in advance. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

Laurie Kenny takes a sip of eggnog at Scoma's Restaurant in San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2024. The eggnog is prepared 11 months in advance. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)