An afternoon vote was expected to clear the way for a Republican-written bill to keep government funding flowing past midnight after the top Senate Democrat said he would not block it.

The U.S. Senate on Friday passed a stopgap spending bill, averting a partial government shutdown, after Democrats backed down in a standoff driven by anger over President Donald Trump's campaign to slash the federal workforce.

Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada were among the first Democrats to publicly back the Republican funding bill, arguing that a shutdown would only strengthen Trump’s hand. They were joined by six more Democrats—Dick Durbin of Illinois,