Congress passes stopgap funding bill to avert shutdown before midterms

The House approved a short-term funding measure on Tuesday, extending federal spending at current levels, with limited exceptions, until Dec. 11. The vote, 370-48, received bipartisan support and follows a Senate approval of the same continuing resolution in August. The White House urged lawmakers to back the stopgap, and President Trump is expected to sign it.

The legislation comes after federal funding was set to expire on Sept. 30, and both parties sought to avoid a shutdown that could affect voters ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Congressional leaders turned to the short-term patch after negotiations on a full-year appropriations package stalled in the Senate.

The current Congress has previously experienced two extended shutdowns. In the prior year, Democrats withheld votes to press Republicans on health-insurance subsidy extensions, leading to a 43-day shutdown that ended in November. A separate 76-day shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security concluded in April after disputes over immigration-officer policies. Subsequent bipartisan appropriations bills reopened the government, though the earlier standoffs did not yield the policy concessions sought by Democrats.