US Congress passes bill to avert government shutdown

The US Congress averts a Christmastime government shutdown after weeks of tense negotiations that went down to the wire, passing a bill to fund federal agencies through mid-March.

With the midnight deadline already expired by minutes, senators dropped normal procedure to fast-track the package to a vote, halting government shutdown preparations and saving Christmas for more than 800,000 workers at risk of being sent home without pay.

“It’s good news that the bipartisan approach in the end prevailed… It’s a good outcome for America and the American people,” Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says in a speech on the Senate floor.

The Democrats run the Senate, so there was never much doubt that the funding package would get a rubber stamp after the party was crucial in helping the Republican majority in the House pass the bill earlier in the day.

But with senators often dragging their feet over complex legislation, there were fears that the funding fight might spill into next week.

That would have meant non-essential operations winding up, with up to 875,000 workers furloughed and as many as 1.4 million more required to work without pay.