The last-minute stopgap spending bill includes provision for the rebuilding of the Francis Key Scott bridge in Maryland, which collapsed in March after being struck by a cargo ship.

Under the bill, its replacement will be fully funded by the federal government. The legislation will also allow the US Treasury Department to recoup money from any settlements related to the bridge’s collapse to help pay for the rebuilding.

The Dali container ship crashed into the bridge in March, causing it to collapse and severing access to critical shipping routes in and out of the Port of Baltimore. Six workers on the bridge were killed in the incident.

The Maryland Transportation Authority earlier this year estimated that rebuilding the bridge could cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion.

Joe Biden has signed the last-minute stopgap spending bill into law, according to the White House.

The Senate passed the bill not long after midnight averting a shutdown that would have had widespread impacts, following a last minute scramble in Congress. The House passed the bill Friday evening.

A statement from the White House read: “On Saturday, December 21, 2024, the President signed into law: H.R. 10545, the "American Relief Act, 2025", which provides fiscal year 2025 appropriations to Federal agencies through March 14, 2025, for continuing projects and activities of the Federal Government; provides disaster relief appropriations and economic assistance to farmers; extends the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018; and extends several expiring authorities.”

Congress is allocating more than $100 billion in emergency aid designed to address extensive damage caused by disasters after this week's scramble to find consensus on a government spending bill.

The money comes after back-to-back hurricanes — Helene and Milton — slammed into the southeastern United States this fall, leaving havoc in their wake. But the money would go to much more than just those two storms under the bill meant to keep the federal government funded through March 14.

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House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that in passing the spending bill House Democrats stopped the “billionaire boy’s club.”

“We have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy, and hurting working-class Americans,” Jeffries told reporters after Friday’s vote, adding that the stop-gap measure a “victory for the American people.”

Donald Trump has announced that Brian Burch, a critic of Pope Francis, is his pick for ambassador to the Vatican.

“I am pleased to announce that Brian Burch will serve as the next United States Ambassador to the Holy See. Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and President of CatholicVote.

“He has received numerous awards, and demonstrated exceptional leadership, helping build one of the largest Catholic advocacy groups in the Country. He represented me well during the last Election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any Presidential Candidate in History!

“Brian loves his Church and the United States - He will make us all proud. Congratulations to Brian, his wife Sara, and their incredible family!”

Burch has criticized the Pope’s leadership on social media and shared the writings of some right-wing clerics who are critical of him.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he voted against the spending bill in “protest” of how the government is run.

“While I support keeping government open, I voted no on the CR—a simple protest of the absurd way this is to run government,” he wrote on X.

The House of Representatives approved a government spending bill with only a few hours left to spare before a crucial midnight deadline that would have shut down the government before Christmas.

The Senate followed suit about 40 minutes past midnight.

Read The Independent’s recap here:

ICE deported 271,484 people this year, the highest since 2014 when the agency deported more than 300,000 people, according to their fiscal year 2024 report.

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In the waning days of President Joe Biden‘s administration, the government’s highway safety agency is proposing voluntary safety guidelines for self-driving vehicles.

But a rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration putting the plan in place won’t be approved before the end of Biden’s term in January and likely will be left to whoever runs the agency under Republican Donald Trump.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump has named to co-lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” to cut costs and regulations, has floated the idea of him helping to develop safety standards for self-driving vehicles — even though the standards would affect Tesla’s automated driving systems.

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