Congress averts shutdown with hours to spare, no action against Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Both houses of Congress passed a short-term spending bill Wednesday, averting a government shutdown and keeping federal agencies operating until at least December.

There was no reference in the bill package to freezing funds to Planned Parenthood, the issue that created the potential shutdown in the first place.

The legislation was easily passed by the Senate earlier Wednesday and the House on Wednesday afternoon. The spending bill keeps the government funded until Dec. 11. The House voted 277-to-151 in favor of the spending bill.

President Barack Obama was set to sign the legislation into law later Wednesday.

"The bill before us would keep the government open and allow time for cooler heads to prevail," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

McConnell and Boehner are among many Republicans who have wanted federal money to Planned Parenthood cut off, but said they did not support a government shutdown.

Even with the stop-gap measure, a new shutdown threat could arise in December if conservatives try again to attach Planned Parenthood to funding legislation.

Last week, Boehner announced his resignation effective at the end of October, leaving the next speaker to face the possibility of a shutdown.

"That means within the coming weeks we will again be negotiating with Republicans to avoid another shutdown," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "Our constituents don't want every simple legislative task to turn into a doomsday clock."

The 2016 fiscal year begins Thursday and federal agencies could not continue operating unless Congress approved the funding.

Thirty Republicans were willing to shut down the government to get Planned Parenthood's funding cut off, over a series of "undercover" videos that surfaced weeks ago depicting organization personnel discussing the sale of body parts from fetuses.