By JIM RUTLEDGE

D.C. Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate voted Monday to fund the federal government through Feb. 8, in a bipartisan comprise among 100 senators to reopen government operations nationwide, which had been shut down for the previous 60 hours. The vote was 81-18.

The new three-week funding bill shifted the government crisis back to the House, which needed to adopt the Senate action before the measure could be sent to the White House for President Trump’s signature. (The vote taken before press time on Jan. 22 was procedural, with a second, final Senate vote scheduled later in the day. It was expected to similarly pass.)

Monday afternoon, it was expected the House would vote to approve the Senate shortstop funding agreement, known as a “continuing resolution,” to fund the government for the next 17 days.

The Senate vote did multiple things: it reopened the government and it extended insurance to 9 million recipients of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, which runs out of money at midnight Friday. It also promised action on the most contentious issue that forced the shutdown – to resolve the fate of 650,000 young immigrants eligible for protection under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program – known as “Dreamers” – which expires March 5.

From the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “We have a lot of work to do.” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged he would permit a “free and open debate” on the immigration issues over the next few weeks.

Between now and Feb. 8, negotiations will be held to fund the 2018 federal budget, including consideration for money Trump has requested for immigration security, including a border wall with Mexico.

Lawmakers also face questions of emergency funding for hurricane-ravaged states and Puerto Rico, as well as funding for the opioid crisis and for the Department of Defense. If the latest Senate measure had not passed on Monday, most of the 850,000 federal workers would have been told to stay home until funding was eventually approved.

At midnight last Friday, the government ran out of money when Congress failed to pass a 2018 funding bill to keep the government functioning, an agreement federal lawmakers have been struggling to reach since September.

If the shutdown had continued, the USDA said it had in place a wide range of measures to assure farmers and ranchers uninterrupted services vital to sustain the nation’s food supply, supported by thousands of USDA workers who are considered essential employees, such as food safety inspectors. Other government agencies had similar plans, but were limited.

The nation could still face a government shutdown crisis if Congress can’t come to agreement before Feb. 8. Lawmakers have been trying for five months to reach a funding bill, passing four continuing budget resolutions, each one hoping to give legislators additional time to resolve conflicting issues.

The last federal shutdown occurred in 2013 for 16 days and cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars.

The House passed its fourth short-term funding bill last week to keep the government running through Feb. 16, voting 230-197 with six Democrats breaking ranks to join the Republicans. The bill had been sent to the Senate where action was finally decided two days ago, shuttling debate to Feb. 8.

As the government headed to a shutdown last weekend, the USDA issued a directive on Jan. 19 listing services by more than a dozen interdepartmental agencies that would have continued. The same directive could be used in the future should the country face another shutdown.

(To view USDA resources available to the public in the event of a future government shutdown, visit www.usda.gov/shutdownplans)

The National Assoc. of Wheat Growers (NAWG), representing 20 state grower organizations, issued a statement prior to the Senate vote: “We call upon Congress to reopen the government immediately and thereby maintain operations of essential farm programs. Failing to keep the government open due to funding is fiscally irresponsible and bad for farmers and all of agriculture.

“A government shutdown,” it added, “also means Congress has failed to act on an FY18 funding bill which holds several beneficial programs for wheat growers. Shutting down the government means … growers won’t have access to data and reports needed for planting and harvesting, farm loans and credit and other critical services needed to run their operations.”