A tumultuous US House votes late on Saturday on a Republican plan that keeps government open but is unlikely to pass the Senate, leading lawmakers to bicker over who is responsible for a likely shutdown.
Barely two days before a shutdown deadline, Republican leaders set off a political firestorm when they announced that their stopgap federal spending bill also aims to delay implementation of President Barack Obama’s health care law by one year.
The move prompted a sharp rebuke from the White House, which warned it was a step toward shuttering federal agencies once the fiscal year ends Monday night, and vowed to veto any such bill.
House Speaker John Boehner convened a rare Saturday session as Congress struggles to break a funding impasse that, if unresolved, would require hundreds of thousands of federal workers to stay home. In addition, more than a million US military personnel would remain on duty — but with no pay.