Congress Passes Stopgap Funding Bill to Avoid Government Shutdown

Congress on Thursday approved a stopgap spending measure to keep the government’s lights on past Friday, averting a shutdown. The funding bill punts on a number of legislative priorities, including the DREAM Act and health-care stabilization measures. The so-called continuing resolution funds the government through Jan. 19. It now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. More than two dozen Senate Democrats voted against that chamber’s bill in protest of the fact that Congress did not pass the DREAM Act before year’s end as a way to codify legal protections for children of undocumented immigrants. The House passed an $81 billion disaster relief package earlier Thursday for the hurricane-ravaged areas of Texas and Puerto Rico and the wildfires in California, but the Senate did not consider the legislation before lawmakers left Washington on Thursday night.