Congress passed a two-week stopgap measure on Thursday to ensure that the government was funded, avoiding a potential shutdown, the New York Times reported.
"Government funding is set to expire at the end of Friday, and the stopgap measure would provide more time for negotiations between Republicans and Democrats on overall spending levels for the 2018 fiscal year," the article states. "After a deal is reached, the two parties can negotiate a long-term spending package."
Members of Congress are currently debating the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a bill designed to stabilize Obamacare markets, funding of the CHIP program, immigration policies such as DACA, and military spending levels, to name a few.
"The reality is that we're running into a deadline this week, and this resolution is our best and only option at this time," said Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R., N.J.).
The stopgap measure passed the House in a 235 to 193 vote and the measure passed the Senate, 81 to 14.
"The vast majority of Republicans voted for it, despite a brief rebellion this week from hard-line conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus who wanted the stopgap measure to stretch past Christmas," the article states. "The vast majority of Democrats opposed the stopgap measure."