House passes stopgap bill to avoid government shutdown

UPDATE: As expected, the Senate Thursday evening approved the stopgap spending bill passed by the House earlier in the afternoon. The bill passed 81-14. Among the no votes were Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Independent Sen. Bernie Saners of Vermont, and Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and John McCain of Arizona. “Every day we spend on a Continuing Resolution is a day our military must try to do more with less & troops’ lives are put at risk. We need a bipartisan budget agreement to rebuild our military,” McCain tweeted after the vote. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the temporary measure.

Editor’s note: President Donald Trump signed the two-week spending measure in private at the White House Friday morning.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (5:44 p.m.): WASHINGTON—The House on Thursday cleared a two-week spending bill to fund the government, one day before it was scheduled to run out of money. Democrats and Republicans are in the middle of year-end spending negotiations but haven’t yet reached a deal. Congressional leaders decided to pass the stopgap measure to extend the deadline to Dec. 22. The bill passed 235-193, with 14 Democrats supporting the plan and 18 no votes from Republicans. The Senate plans to approve the temporary spending package as soon as Thursday evening. Leaders from both chambers of Congress met with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday afternoon. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called the temporary bill “basic governing” while negotiations on a final spending package continue. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., voted against the measure. She said she does not want to shut down the government but could not support a bill that doesn’t include Democratic priorities, such as a legislative fix for young undocumented immigrants and providing more funds for natural disaster recovery.