Obama signs short-term funding bill into law
President Barack Obama early Wednesday signed into law a stopgap measure to fund the US government through November 18 after US lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the bill.
The US House of Representatives passed the measure on Tuesday by a 352-66 vote, sending it to the White House with plenty of time to avert a partial government shutdown.
The White House later confirmed in a statement that the president had signed the bill into law shortly after midnight.
The Senate passed the legislation last week amid calls from key lawmakers to avoid the kind of angry standoff that led two months ago to the downgrade of Washington's once-sterling debt rating.
Feuds over disaster aid in the wake of Hurricane Irene as well as over a push to cut government spending and rein in the galloping deficit had brought Congress to the brink of seeing non-vital services disrupted for lack of funds as the fiscal year 2012 dawned Saturday.