The U.S. Senate convened on Friday to pass legislation that would fund several federal agencies through September and avert a partial government shutdown that otherwise would begin at midnight.
The legislation would provide funding for agriculture, transportation, housing, energy, veterans and other programs through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. It passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives earlier this week.
Though the chamber is expected to pass the bill and send it on to Democratic President Joe Biden to sign into law, it is unclear when a vote will take place.
"I hope my Republican colleagues will work with us on a reasonable agreement so we can get this funding package done today and send it to the president's desk before a shutdown," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Still to come is the debate over a final bunch of bills for the military, homeland security, health programs, financial services, foreign operations and other annual funding. Congress faces a March 22 deadline for passing these.
All these bills were supposed to have been enacted into law by last Oct. 1, the start of the 2024 fiscal year. While Congress rarely meets that deadline, the debate this year has been unusually chaotic.
Far-right Republicans have pushed for deeper spending cuts to tame a $34.5 trillion national debt, leaving the House leaderless for months.
Congress so far has had to approve four temporary funding bills to keep agency operations limping along at their previous year's levels.
