Congress Passes Stopgap Bill to Avert Weekend Shutdown

The House and Senate on Thursday passed a short-term extension of government funding, avoiding a shutdown that would have otherwise started Saturday. The bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, is the fourth stopgap spending measure passed for this fiscal year, which started last October. It would keep one group of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another through March 22, buying more time for appropriators to finalize annual spending bills, including a batch of six set to be