Congress gave final approval to a sweeping spending bill Thursday (12/21/17) evening that sidesteps a government shutdown less than 36 hours before the year-end deadline and includes a short-term extension for CHIP health care for low-income kids, which had expired Sept. 30. The stopgap extends funding through Jan. 19, 2018 and passed in the House 231-188 and in the Senate 66-32.