Congress set to approve another short-term extension to avoid shutdown and keep agencies running

By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is on course to pass another short-term spending measure that would keep one set of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another set through March 22. The measure will allow Congress to avoid a shutdown for parts of the federal government set to kick in Saturday. Announced Thursday, the short-term extension is the fourth in recent months, and House GOP leadership is voicing increasing expectation that it will be the last before Congress approves a final spending package for the full year that exceeds $1.6 trillion. The renewed focus on this year’s spending bills doesn’t include a separate effort to provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel.