House approves funding bill and sends to Senate hours before shutdown deadline

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

The House of Representatives has approved a new plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.

Speaker Mike Johnson insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close ahead of the Christmas holiday season, but the outcome had been uncertain after Mr Trump insisted that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal, or the closures would “start now”.