US House passes bipartisan bill to avoid government shutdown

The US House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill with overwhelming Democratic support after Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy backed down from demands for a partisan bill. The bill aims to avoid a government shutdown, which would begin on Sunday unless the Senate passes it and President Joe Biden signs it into law. McCarthy’s shift won the support of top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell. The funding fight focuses on a small portion of the US budget and does not consider cuts to popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare.