Congress Passes Stopgap Spending Bill to Avoid Government Shutdown--2nd Update

Congress on Friday approved legislation to extend funding for the federal government by one week, a step toward avoiding a partial government shutdown on Saturday.

The House passed the measure with a 382-30 vote, including 207 Republicans and 175 Democrats voting yes. The Senate passed the bill soon after.

With the government's funding set to run out at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the stopgap measure gives lawmakers until May 5 to settle on a spending bill to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

Lawmakers from both parties said they were trying to avoid a government shutdown and that the one-week measure was needed because negotiators ran out of time to finish some narrow pieces of the five-month spending bill before the Saturday deadline.

The most contentious issues of the longer-term spending bill appeared to have been resolved by Friday morning, but Democrats were still trying to block some Republican policy measures in the bill.

The stopgap resolution also extends health-care coverage by one week for more than 22,000 retired coal miners and their dependents, who were facing a loss of care with the government deadline. Lawmakers are wrangling over whether to extend the funding permanently or on a more limited basis.

Write to Natalie Andrews at Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com and Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com

WASHINGTON -- Congress on Friday approved legislation to extend funding for the federal government by one week, avoiding a partial government shutdown on Saturday.

The House passed the measure with a 382-30 vote, including 207 Republicans and 175 Democrats voting yes. The Senate passed the bill through unanimous consent soon after. The bill now heads to the president, who is expected to sign.

The government's funding had been set to run out at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The stopgap measure gives lawmakers through May 5 to settle on a spending bill to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

Lawmakers from both parties said the one-week measure was needed because negotiators ran out of time to finish some narrow pieces of a five-month spending bill before the Saturday deadline.

The most contentious issues of the longer-term spending bill appeared to have been resolved by Friday morning, but Democrats were still trying to block some Republican policy measures in the bill.

The stopgap resolution also extends health-care coverage by one week for more than 22,000 retired coal miners and their dependents, who were facing a loss of care with the government deadline. Lawmakers are wrangling over whether to extend the funding permanently or on a more limited basis.

Write to Natalie Andrews at Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com and Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2017 12:36 ET (16:36 GMT)