President Barack Obama has signed legislation that keeps the government running and averts a shutdown that could have happened this weekend. The bill that Obama signed Saturday gives the outgoing Congress two more weeks to try to pass legislation funding the government for the rest of the budget year _ through September.
If that fails, lawmakers will have to pass another temporary measure to fund agencies into next year, when Republicans will control the House of Representatives. The Democratic-controlled Congress hasn''t passed a single annual spending bill. It''s an unprecedented breakdown of the budget process.