The Senate avoids a government shutdown, punting a spending deadline into March

The Senate voted 65-27 Thursday evening to approve a stop-gap spending bill to fund the government through March 11.

The short-term punt is intended to buy lawmakers time to work out a more all-encompassing spending agreement that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Top negotiators on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees say they have reached an agreement on a spending framework that will need broader approval in the coming weeks.

The stop-gap was delayed for several days as a group of Republican...