House sends Senate bill to avert shutdown [Video]

The House approved a $1.2 trillion government funding bill Friday, sending the sprawling package to the Senate hours before the deadline and officially capping off the fiscal 2024 appropriations process in the lower chamber.

The legislation — which includes six funding bills — cleared the House in an 286-134 vote, hours before a slew of agencies and programs are set to run out of funding.

The Senate is expected to quickly take up the package, with hopes of getting it over the finish line before midnight so lawmakers can avoid a lapse in funding and begin their two-week Easter recess. President Biden has said he will sign the bill.

The successful House vote puts a bookend on the fiscal 2024 appropriations process in the lower chamber, which dragged on for months with four short-term extensions, led to the first-ever toppling of a sitting Speaker, and incited bitter battles between hard-line …