WASHINGTON — Congress is poised to avert a looming shutdown of federal highway accounts with passage of a temporary measure that will keep operations funded for the next three months, but the move creates a possible new crisis point for the fall.
The House approved a compromise stopgap bill Wednesday by a vote of 385-34, as Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, allows lawmakers to dash out of town early for the August recess. The Senate was to follow suit soon after.
As part of the deal, Congress was also tacking on a provision to help the Department of Veterans Affairs avoid closing health care clinics amid its own budget shortfall. The agency will be able to tap $3 billion over the next two months to cover rising costs associated with providing veterans faster health services.
Lost in the compromise, though, was an effort to salvage the Export-Import Bank, the federal financial institution whose ability to make new loans was halted by Congress last month amid criticism that the bank was an example of corporate welfare.
