U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a bill that provides a two-day extension of government funding and temporarily averts a partial federal government shutdown.
Both houses of Congress approved the heavily fought-over spending measure late Thursday, with just minutes to go before the midnight deadline.
The Senate now has until Saturday at midnight to approve a wider spending measure.
The Senate is expected follow the lead of the House of Representatives, which on Thursday passed the $1.1 trillion spending bill that funds the government through September 2015.
Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner warned lawmakers that if they did not pass a bill Thursday - even a temporary measure to fund the government - they would have to stay in Washington until Christmas.
Lawmakers from both sides and President Obama urged passage, even though conservative Republicans were angry over what was not in the bill and liberal Democrats were upset over what was there.