Stopgap spending bill passed by Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress cleared a stopgap funding bill Tuesday to keep the federal government open into March, a temporary truce until Republicans and President Barack Obama rejoin the battle over the budget next year.

The bill was passed by the House in the evening just hours after speeding through the Senate. Obama was poised to sign it by midnight to avoid a government shutdown.

The measure would freeze agency budgets at current levels. That's still too high for Republicans set to take over the House, who vow to cut many programs to levels in place when Obama took office. That will be difficult to achieve, even though Republicans will control the House and possess greater strength in the senate.

The bill would also create hardship at the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, which will be denied funding increases until their budgets pass next year.

The measure is needed because the Democratic-controlled Congress - in an unprecedented failure to complete its most basic job on passing a budget - has failed to enact a single one of the 12 annual spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of every federal agency.

The House cleared the bill for Obama on a 193-165 vote after a 79-16 vote in the Senate.

Republicans promise to try next year to cut most domestic agency budgets back to pre-Obama levels. Such cuts would exceed 20 percent for some agencies.

Republicans say such cuts would produce savings of $100 billion compared to Obama's February budget request.