Congress passes bill to avert government shutdown

STORY: The US government is close to avoiding a partial shutdown a day ahead of a Friday deadline. The House approved a stopgap bill to fund the federal government through March. It's now been sent to President Biden for final approval. The Senate had earlier passed the bill with ease. The Democratic-majority Senate and Republican-controlled House are far behind in carrying out their basic duty of funding the government for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and his House Republican counterpart, Mike Johnson, agreed earlier this month to a $1.59 trillion discretionary spending level for the year that ends on Sept. 30. But in a sign of how bitterly the Congress is divided, the two parties now disagree on that number, with Democrats saying the actual amount agreed to is $1.66 trillion. House Republicans seek deep spending cuts, as the $34.4 trillion national debt is growing rapidly and worries mount of heavy interest payments now being borne by the Treasury Department. This third stopgap funding bill would simply extend last fiscal year's spending levels until two deadlines of March 1 and March 8 for completing action of spending for various government agencies. With temporary funding now sorted, the focus shifts to the need to pass the 12 bills providing the full-year budget. In the House, Johnson could face blowback from hardline members of his party who oppose such stopgap funding bills without deep spending cuts. Their disapproval led to the toppling of Johnson's predecessor, Kevin McCarthy.