Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed emergency short-term legislation  to reduce  federal spending by $4 billion.

The bill that cleared the House on a bipartisan vote of 335-91 eliminates the threat of a shutdown on March 4, when existing funding authority expires. At the same time, it creates a compressed two-week timeframe for the White House and lawmakers to engage in negotiations on a follow-up bill to set spending levels through the end of the fiscal year.

The Senate is set to vote on the short-term measure tomorrow morning, the final step before it goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The White House, which earlier in the day called publicly for an interim measure of up to five weeks, stopped short of saying the president would sign the legislation.