Congress approves short-term funding bill to avoid shutdown, sending measure to Biden

Congress approved a stopgap measure to keep the government funded through the beginning of March, successfully avoiding a partial shutdown that would have otherwise taken effect Saturday morning. 

The House cleared the continuing resolution in a bipartisan 314 to 108 vote Thursday afternoon. The Senate voted 77 to 18 to approve it earlier in the day. 

"We have good news for America — there will not be a shutdown on Friday," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. "It's precisely what Americans want to see — both sides working together and governing responsibly. No chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown."

The legislation extends funding at current levels for some government agencies through March 1, and others through March 8. The two-step deadline is an extension of the current deadline originally conceived by House conservatives to avoid a massive omnibus spending bill to fund the government. But many of those members on the Republican conference's right flank opposed the stopgap measure to keep the government funded.