[ Breaking news update , 10:07 p.m . ET ] . The U.S. Senate passed a $ 1.1 trillion spending bill that will fund the government through September , approving it in an unusual Saturday evening vote . [ Previous story , 9:09 p.m . ET ] . The Senate passed a short-term spending bill that will fund the government through Wednesday , averting a shutdown while the chamber debates a bill to fund the government . President Barack Obama signed the stopgap funding bill Saturday evening . Without it , funding was due to dry up Saturday night . The Senate will vote Saturday night on the $ 1.1 trillion package that would fund the government through next September , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor . The bill has already passed the House . Sen. Mitch McConnell , the incoming Senate majority leader , had previously reached a deal with Reid to adjourn for the weekend and resume Monday to clear the bill . But in a surprise development , some of McConnell 's junior members defied the agreement after he left . Reid tried to get unanimous consent for an adjournment until Monday when there would be enough votes to end a filibuster , but Sen. Mike Lee , a Republican from Utah , objected because Reid would not guarantee a vote on an amendment dealing with immigration funding . Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also joined the objection , forcing the Senate to meet on Saturday . Reid then announced to an almost empty chamber that the Senate would be in session beginning at noon Saturday . Will the government keep operating ? The Senate was facing a Saturday deadline to approve the spending bill and avert a government shutdown , but that was pushed back . The chamber has been sifting through many of the same arguments that tied up the House on Thursday , when disagreements over immigration and provisions related to Wall Street and campaign finance nearly derailed the bill . Senate lawmakers wanted votes on amendments that would address those issues . Two votes are expected Monday : a procedural vote to block a filibuster and end debate on the bill , and a second one on the final passage . 'Using every tool available ' Sen. Elizabeth Warren , D-Massachusetts , and Sen. David Vitter , R-Louisiana , filed an amendment that would strip a provision that softens financial regulations on banks from the spending bill . `` Congress should not put taxpayers on the hook for another bailout , and this giveaway that was drafted by Citigroup lobbyists has no place in a critical government funding bill , '' Warren said . Cruz , a chief critic of Obama 's recent executive action on immigration , also said he wanted a vote to block it . `` I think it is critical that the Senate have the opportunity to have a clear up or down vote on funding President Obama 's illegal executive amnesty , '' he told reporters . `` I am using every tool available to help bring about that vote . '' But by making the procedural move , Reid prevented those amendments from being considered . Amendment votes could have been risky , because if either measure passed , the spending bill would have to go back to the House to be voted on again . While the House is technically in session , most members have left Washington until the new Congress convenes in early January . A day after his administration scrambled to save the bill when it appeared it might be defeated in the House , the President said he was pulling for it in the Senate . `` I 'm glad it passed the House and am hopeful that it will pass the Senate , '' Obama said .
Senate passes short-term funding measure . The House is expected to pass a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government open through Dec. 8. 5-day continuing resolution expected to keep government operating until bill is completed .