House Of Representatives, Government | featured news

The House is taking its first step Wednesday to avoid a government shutdown, as Washington looks to forgo forcing a fiscal crisis this month and instead turns its attention to a more deliberate debate over long-term deficit reduction.

The U.S. House of Representatives unexpectedly defeated a bill that would fund the federal government past September 30 on Wednesday as dozens of Republicans broke with their party to push for deeper spending cuts.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday said that he was “very concerned” about the status of negotiations on keeping the federal government funded past an April 8 deadline, saying that prospects for a government shutdown have increased since two weeks ago.

The House passed the second stopgap spending measure this month, funding the government for three more weeks while cutting $6 billion.