The Latest: Congress nearing deadline to avert government shutdown

The Latest: Congress nearing deadline to avert government shutdown Updated 2 mins ago The U.S. government is on the brink of the first federal government shutdown in almost seven years. Prospects look bleak for a last-minute compromise in Congress to avoid closures beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday with Democrats and Republicans in a stalemate over health care funding and spending. Congress members refused to budge from their positions Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of federal workers stood to be furloughed or laid off. To avoid it, the Senate would have to pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while lawmakers finish their work on annual spending bills.