U.S. House OKs federal funding through Sept., avert gov't shutdown

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday voted to pass a six-month stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government in operation till September, a move to avert another possible government shutdown.

By a 267-151 vote, the House passed a measure to fund the federal government until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 and sent the measure to the Senate.

The Senate is expected to make changes to the bill and send it back before March 27. Without such legislation, the federal government will run out of money on March 27.

The bill preserved the 85 billion U.S. dollars spending cuts which took effect on March 1, but granted the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs greater flexibility in implementing their share of spending cuts.

The spending cuts were set to hit various governmental departments this fiscal year starting on Friday, as agreed by Democrats and Republicans in January to resolve the so-called "fiscal cliff."

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