Congress nears showdown votes on averting federal shutdown

Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that he's confident that the GOP-controlled House will pass a stopgap government-wide funding bill, even as growing opposition from Senate Democrats made prospects in that chamber increasingly dicey. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health says the institution is in a "scramble" to prepare for a potential government shutdown at midnight Friday.

Zika funds running out, gridlocked Congress told

President Barack Obama's administration warned Congress on Wednesday that money to fight the Zika virus is on the verge of running out as Capitol Hill faces a political stalemate. In a letter to key lawmakers, the secretary of Health and Human Services said the National Institutes of Health would exhaust its resources for vaccine development by month's end.