PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN on Thursday signed a continuing resolution approved by Congress that will keep the government funded through the end of 2021 (White House photo).

A shutdown of the federal government was averted Thursday evening when President Joe Biden signed a resolution passed by Congress that will keep the money flowing through the end of 2021.

According to the Associated Press, the House of Representatives approved the measure 254-175 after the Senate gave its OK by a 65-45 margin. In each case, the majority of Republicans voted “no.”

“There’s so much more to do,” Biden said. “But the passage of this bill reminds us that bipartisan work is possible and it gives us time to pass longer-term funding to keep our government running and delivering for the American people.”

The current budget ended at midnight. Without the action by Congress, Social Security payments and federal employee wages may have been delayed.

“We’re able to fund the government today because the majority accepted reality,” said Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the Senate Minority Leader, according to The New York Times.

Infrastructure bill up for a vote

NANCY PELOSI is Speaker of the House (Wikipedia photo).

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said Thursday (today) she would bring to the floor for a vote a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that has already passed the Senate.

Some progressive Democratic members of the House of Representatives have said they would oppose the bill until the Senate passes a $3.5 trillion package that would expand the social safety net and seek to combat climate change, according to The New York Times.

Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), whose vote is considered crucial to passage, has said he would support only a smaller bill of about $1.5 trillion.

Also in the News …

• Over half of police killings in the United States are not being reported in federal data, accorded to USA Today. A study published by the medical journal Lancet stated that about 55 percent of deaths from police violence were “misclassified or unreported.”
• The National School Boards Association is asking President Joe Biden for help from the federal government to combat threats made against school board members over mask mandates.

Sports: Down to the final four of 2021?

The Los Angeles Dodgers (102-56), trailing the San Francisco Giants (104-54) by two games with four games left to play, will host the San Diego Padres this evening at 7 p.m. needing not only to win, but for the Giants – who face the Arizona Diamondbacks – to stumble.

On Wednesday, the Giants won 1-0 while the Dodgers rallied to win 11-9 and stay alive.

As for the Angels (75-84), they lost 7-6 earlier today to the Texas Rangers in Arlington.

Weather: A warm weekend for you

October will start for the West Orange County area with warm temperatures. Friday’s high is forecast to be 87, with an overnight low of 59, under sunny skies. Some clouds will move in on Saturday with a high of 89. Sunday should be 88 and partly cloudy.  In coastal Huntington Beach, daily highs should be about four to five degrees cooler.