House Passes Temporary Funding Bill To Avoid Shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has moved to head-off a potential government shutdown before this fall’s critical midterm elections. Republicans on Tuesday muscled through a bill to fund the federal government through Dec. 4. The deadline for action is more than two months away. But House GOP leaders are not leaving to chance a possible shutdown souring the mood of voters shortly before they go to the polls. Republicans said work on annual spending bills would continue, but that funding the government temporarily would help lawmakers avoid a repeat of the past year, when the country experienced two government shutdowns of record length. Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the measure, saying Republicans took a go-it-alone approach.