I think we need to set an example, Kennedy said on the floor ahead of the vote.
The Legislative Branch bill will be combined with the two-bill package and sent to the House as a bundle under the bipartisan agreement laid out by Collins earlier Friday.
The Senates progress is a U-turn from just Thursday night when tensions were running high after Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) blocked the ability to bring up a four-bill package that would have incorporated funding for the Justice and Commerce departments as well as other agencies.
Van Hollen blocked funding of the DOJ bill because of a stalemate that developed after the Trump administration backtracked earlier this year from a years-long process that would have moved FBI headquarters to Maryland. The Senate punted the Justice-Commerce funding bill until after the August recess.
Congress will ultimately have to consider a continuing resolution that wards off a shutdown on Oct. 1 and buys more time for bicameral, bipartisan talks on a government funding deal for the coming fiscal year.
Some House lawmakers are angling for another lengthy stopgap, while Senate leadership is hoping to get some full-year bills to President Donald Trumps desk for signature before the shutdown deadline. That would let them have parts of the government funded for fiscal 2026, while running the rest of the government on a short-term spending patch.
Cassandra Dumay and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
