House votes to keep US govt funded,for now

The stopgap funding measure needs to pass by the October 1 start of the fiscal year to keep the government fully functioning.

Typically,such measures advance with sweeping bipartisan support,but conservative tea party activists forced Republican leaders against their better judgment to add a provision to defund the health care law that is the signature accomplishment of Obamas first term.

The House vote sets the stage for a confrontation with the Democratic-controlled Senate,which promises to strip that provision from the bill next week. It will challenge the House to pass it as a simple,straightforward funding bill that Obama will sign.

The US faces the risk of its first-ever default on a broader set of obligations when the government runs out of borrowing ability by mid- to late October.

A temporary government funding bill is needed because Washingtons longstanding budget stalemate has derailed the annual appropriations bills required to fund federal agency operations.

Obama has said he wont be forced into making concessions as he did in the 2011 debt crisis,when he accepted 2.1 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years.