Overcoming an intense battle, the US Congress finally passed a $1.1-trillion spending bill for fiscal year 2015, sending the measure to President Barack Obama and averting a government shutdown.
The bill, which narrowly cleared the House of Representatives Thursday and survived a series of procedural hurdles to pass the Senate 56 vote to 40 on Saturday, funds nearly all federal government agencies through next September.
It also provides $5 billion for operations to counter the Islamic state extremist group and $5.4 billion in emergency funding to respond to the Ebola crisis, and prevents detainees at the Guantanamo military prison from being transferred to the United States.