Trump Signs Temporary Funding Measure To Avoid Government Shutdown

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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) - Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have left themselves some extra work in the new year after approving a short-term solution to government funding.

Had they not, the government faced a shutdown at midnight on Friday.

The stopgap measure will fund the government for the next four weeks. The bill serves as a short-term extension to the Children's Health Insurance Program or CHIP and provides funding for a Veterans healthcare provision.

In response to the North Korea threat, the measure also sends $4.7 billion dollars to the Department of Defense for missile defense.

President Donald Trump signed the funding bill Friday morning.

Some lawmakers expressed concerns about the recent frenetic pace on Capitol Hill.

"I've seen people of goodwill of both parties try mightily and so far consistently fail to get us back to regular order and to end this process of moving crisis to crisis," said Sen. Christopher Coons, D-DE.

The House also passed a separate $81 billion disaster relief bill to help Puerto Rico and states like Texas, Florida, and California which were recently impacted by hurricanes and wildfires. The Senate, though, voted to delay the measure until the new year.

"The emergency response is over but recovery and rebuilding efforts go on," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX.