US House passes stopgap spending bill to avoid government shutdown

Washington, Dec 22 (IANS) The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a stopgap spending bill to avoid a federal government shutdown, one day before the deadline.

The House voted 231-188 to approve a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government funded through January 19, Xinhua reported.

Now the bill heads to the Senate, where it is expected to pass later Thursday or early Friday. Current government funding runs out after Friday midnight.

When lawmakers return to Washington in January after Christmas holidays, House and Senate leaders will seek a bipartisan budget deal to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year 2018, according to the Hill, a US political website.