Biden signs short-term government funding bill, averting a shutdown
CBSN
Washington — President Biden signed a stopgap measure to fund the government through the beginning of March into law on Friday, the White House said, avoiding a partial shutdown as lawmakers continue working to pass a broader spending deal.
The House and Senate approved the continuing resolution on Thursday in bipartisan votes, sending it to Mr. Biden's desk. Without the measure, a partial shutdown would have begun Saturday morning.
The legislation extends current-level funding for some federal agencies through March 1, and others through March 8. The government has been operating under a short-term funding extension passed in November, and this was the third stopgap measure Congress has passed since September.
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.