House Averts Government Shutdown -- For 5 Days

With a deadline looming in less than 12 hours, the House laced up its can-kicking shoes Friday and passed a bill that will give congressional negotiators another five days to finalize a roughly one-trillion-dollar measure to fund the government until next October. The short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution, had been passed by voice vote in the Senate on Thursday and was also approved by voice vote in the House. Congress thereby approved roughly $50 billion in spending without a single recorded vote. The measure, which was less than a page, simply pushes the funding deadline back to Dec. 16, when lawmakers are expected to have a massive omnibus bill ready for approval.