WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama has approved a week's long funding extension for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), averting a partial shutdown of the agency at midnight, the White House said in a statement.
"On Friday, February 27, 2015, the President signed into law: H.R. 33, the 'Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act' to fund the Department of Homeland Security through March 6, 2015," the press release said.
Earlier in the day, the extension was passed by the US House of Representatives, but Congress still needs to meet again to decide how to pass long-term funding for the agency.
On Friday Congress failed to pass a measure that would authorize funding for the DHS through March 19.
The House Joint Resolution was introduced just hours before the funding deadline would have authorized temporary funding for the DHS for a period of three weeks. The measure was supported by a majority of Republicans, but failed to garner Democratic support.