Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are working to quickly pass legislation to avoid a shutdown of the federal government when temporary funding runs out later this week.
Members of the House are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a plan to temporarily fund the government until March 18.
Negotiators in the Republican-controlled House have reached an agreement with the Democratic-led Senate to cut $4 billion from this year's federal budget, some of it from programs that President Barack Obama has called for eliminating and the rest from ending the practice of earmarks, which lawmakers use to fund special projects in their home districts.
The temporary spending bill would give Congress and the Obama administration more time to reach agreement on a spending plan for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends on September 30.
However, some analysts say that providing only 14 days for the political parties to resolve their differences on a full-year measure is not realistic.
The House passed legislation last month that cut $61 billion from the federal budget this year, driven by 87 new Republican representatives elected last November as part of the Tea Party movement, which demands reduced government spending.
But Democrats say the spending cuts proposed by House Republicans could cost jobs and harm economic recovery.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
