Congress expected to stave off government shutdown for a few more weeks

Congress seems poised to narrowly avert a partial government shutdown, buying themselves a few extra weeks to try to work out an agreement on a set of bills that will fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year.

After several days of nail biting over Friday's looming deadline, which would have seen four of 12 government funding bills expiring, it seems likely that both chambers will get out of town Thursday night after sending a short-term funding solution to President Joe Biden's desk.

With another snowstorm heading toward the East Coast Friday, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are expected to act quickly to finish the job.

«Avoiding a shutdown is very good news for the country, for our veterans, for parents and children, and for farmers and small businesses, all of whom would have felt the sting of the government shutdown,» Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. «And this is what the American people want to see. Both sides working together and governing responsibly. No chaos, no spectacle, no shutdown.»

The Senate easily passed the short-term funding bill by an overwhelming vote of 77-18. The House is expected to act on it Thursday afternoon, despite pressure from House Freedom Caucus members to add a last-minute border amendment to the stopgap funding bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson's office said the «plan has not changed» to vote Thursday. The House is set to vote on it between 3:15 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. It will be the House's last vote of the week.

«The House is voting on the stop gap measure tonight to keep the government open,» said Raj Shah, Johnson's deputy chief of communications, said in a statement.

The legislation Congress is expected to pass Thursday will expand the funding expiration