US bill to avert government shutdown clears final congress hurdle

The US House of Representatives approved a short-term budget bill Thursday that would remove the looming threat of a government shutdown by funding the US government through the end of the year, dpa reported. The lower chamber of Congress passed the measure 318-109, a day after the upper Senate had approved the effort 73-26. President Barack Obama has indicated he will sign the measure into law, despite the fact that it maintains 85 billion dollars in across-the-board austerity measures that took effect this month. The measure would extend spending authority through the budget year ending September 30. Congress has been under pressure to produce a bill because if a short-term funding blueprint cannot be agreed to before March 27, the government would run out of money. To avert a government shutdown Congress has had to pass a series of short-term measures because it did not pass a year-long budget.