Congress Approves Bill Averting Government Shutdown Before Election

WASHINGTON—The House and Senate passed a measure late Wednesday funding federal agencies until late December, voting overwhelmingly to take a politically risky government shutdown off the table until after the election. House lawmakers voted 341 to 82 to approve the measure, despite continued grumbling from some rank-and-file GOP members over the lack of spending cuts and leaders’ routine use of short-term patches. The Senate followed quickly, voting 78 to 18, with lawmakers eager to catch flights out of town for the long recess heading into Election Day.