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Congress Hopes To Avoid Looming Government Shutdown With New Bill

The bill would push the shutdown deadline back to Dec. 22.
Posted at 6:49 PM, Dec 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-07 18:49:56-05

The U.S. House and the Senate passed a short-term spending bill Thursday, hoping to head off a possible government shutdown.

Now, it's up to President Trump to sign the bill — which he's expected to do. The shutdown would have triggered at midnight on Friday.

The temporary spending bill passed the House largely along party lines. But the Senate needed — and got — a more bipartisan effort to beat the Friday deadline.

The bill would keep the government open through Dec. 22. But Republicans and Democrats still need to hammer out a larger budget deal before this short-term compromise expires.