Facing a midnight deadline, the U.S. Senate Wednesday approved an emergency one-month extension of current funding levels for the federal government.
The extension is necessary because lawmakers have been unable to complete work on the 12-must pass spending bills required to keep the various arms of the federal government running each year.
With the federal government's fiscal year in its waning hours, all non- essential parts of the government would have been required to shut down at midnight had the extension not been agreed to.
The Senate voted 62-38 to agree to the extension.
House lawmakers voted strongly in favor of the measure last week.
President Barack Obama must sign it into law by midnight to avert the shutdown.
