Se Passer: To Bypass and Pass By

The subject of Lionel's latest video is Article 49-3 of the French Constitution, which gives the prime minister the power to push through legislation without a parliamentary vote. The government most recently invoked Article 49-3 to push through a labor reform bill that has sparked much controversy in France. Public outcry over the bill culminated in the Nuit Debout protest movement, which Lionel has also been covering for Yabla.

In his video, Lionel uses the verb phrase se passer de (to bypass, to do without) to describe the government's action:

Au final le gouvernement a décidé de passer en force,

In the end, the government decided to force its passage,

et s'est passé du vote de l'Assemblée Nationale et du Sénat.

and bypassed the vote of the National Assembly and the Senate.

Captions 8-9, Lionel L - Le 49-3
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The de in se passer de is crucial. If you remove it, you'll get a completely different expression, as Lionel demonstrates later on in the video:

...et que d'ores et déjà nous pouvons comparer à ce qui s'est passé en France.

...and that already we can compare it to what happened in France.

Caption 23, Lionel L - Le 49-3
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By itself, se passer means "to happen" or "occur," as in the expression, Qu'est-ce qui se passe? (What's happening?/What's going on?) You'll also hear it in the impersonal expression il s'est passé...:

Et il s'est passé quelque chose de complètement inédit pour moi...

And something happened that was completely new for me...

Caption 45, Watt’s In - Indila : Dernière Danse Interview Exlu
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But that's not all! Se passer can also mean "to pass" or "pass by" when referring to a period of time: