WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday signed a stopgap funding bill that will keep the government open into early March, avoiding a partial shutdown that would have taken effect in just a few hours.

       The bill, which was approved by Congress on Thursday, buys lawmakers more time to finish the formal appropriations process for fiscal year 2024, which began on Oct. 1, 2023.

       The stopgap bill cleared the Senate by a tally of 77 to 18. The House passed the measure by a vote of 314-108 amid opposition from hard-line House Republicans, who had attempted to cut federal spending and add border security provisions in the "clean" stopgap measure.

       It's the third stopgap funding measure this Congress has approved, with the first in September 2023 and the second in November.