Government shutdown live updates: House, Senate approve stop-gap funding bill

The Senate is, after several hours of stalled debate, beginning a series of votes that are all but certain to end in the passage of the House-backed short-term continuing resolution.

"I have very good news for my colleagues and the country: Democrats and Republicans have just reached an agreement that will allow us to pass the CR tonight before the midnight deadline," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor.

The Senate was first voting on a series of amendments to the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill that would boost Social Security payments for millions of public service retirees who also receive pensions.

Final passage of the short-term funding was expected to be the last vote Friday evening.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Ahead of an expected vote late Friday to keep the federal government running, senators voted unanimously to approve some of the funding for pediatric cancer research that was stripped out of the House version of the stopgap funding bill.

Since President-elect Donald Trump helped to torpedo the original bipartisan funding deal in the House, Democrats have decried the fact that a measure to reauthorize National Institutes of Health funding for pediatric cancer had been removed.

But it turns out that a clean version of that bill -- albeit with less money -- has been sitting in the Senate since the House passed it in March.

On Thursday night, without much fanfare and ahead of approving the stopgap funding bill, the Senate unanimously approved the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0.

The bill reauthorizes a pediatric disease research initiative within NIH through fiscal 2028 and requires the agency to coordinate pediatric research activities to avoid duplicative efforts.

The legislation was led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.).

Senators were also expected to advance both the government funding bill and the Social Security Fairness Act.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the passage of the government funding bill "a victory" for the American people during remarks after the vote.

"House Democrats have successfully stopped the billionaire Boys Club, which wanted a $4 trillion blank check by suspending the debt ceiling in order to enable them to cut Social Security, cut Medicare and cut nutritional assistance, while providing massive tax breaks for the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected," he said.

Jeffries took no questions.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is confident the Senate will pass the government funding bill.

"The House has overwhelmingly passed a bill to keep the government open, and I’m confident the Senate will pass it as well," he said. "We hope to get it passed as soon as possible."

As of now, it is unclear when the vote will be. If the vote is moved to Saturday, there would be a lapse in government funding starting at midnight, but the impact of a shutdown would be minimal given it is a weekend.

"Though this bill does not include everything Democrats fought for, there are major victories in this bill for American families -- provide emergency aid for communities battered by natural disasters, no debt ceiling, and it will keep the government open with no draconian cuts," he added. "As I have said, the only way to keep the government open is through bipartisanship."

-ABC News' Mariam Khan