President Obama has signed a stopgap funding bill that will keep federal agencies running through March 11. The continuing resolution, which Obama signed on March 6, was necessary because most of the agencies were operating under an earlier "CR" that expired on that date. The House on Feb. 25 had passed a $410-billion appropriations package that would fund those agencies through Sept. 30, the end of the 2009 fiscal year, but things bogged down in the Senate.
The developments affect most of the federal departments and agencies, including many that oversee important construction programs, such as the Transportation, Energy and Interior departments, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and General Services Administration.