US Senate passes government funding bill to avoid shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., celebrates as the Senate begins voting on the government funding bill just in time to meet the midnight deadline, at the Capitol in Washington (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The US Senate has rushed through the final passage of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid.

Facing a government shutdown deadline, the restructured bill dropped President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.