US House aims to pass spending bill to avert weekend government shutdown

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday will try to pass legislation funding a broad swath of the federal government through the fiscal year that began in October, as yet another threat of a partial shutdown looms. Failure by the House and Democratic-majority Senate to pass and send to President Joe Biden this package of six spending bills would trigger federal worker furloughs and suspend some agency operations beginning on Saturday, when stop-gap funding expires. House Speaker Mike Johnson is operating with a paper-thin 219-213 majority in the Republican-controlled chamber and likely will rely on Democratic votes to win passage in order to send the legislation to the Senate, which would aim to act Thursday or Friday.