Resolving the U.S. government shutdown crisis...House to deal with budget minus 'Trump demand' debt

With about six hours to go before the shutdown deadline for the U.S. federal government to close, the House of Representatives has dealt with a temporary budget minus the "debt limit" issue that has hampered its handling of the budget.

As a result, the U.S. government's shutdown crisis, which had been rapidly escalating due to Republican President-elect Donald Trump's demand to abolish the debt limit, has been overcome.

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed the provisional budget bill on the afternoon of the 20th local time with 366 in favor and 34 against it.

The budget bill missing a two-year grace period for the debt limit, which was a last-minute demand from Trump, and instead included a plan to reduce government spending by $2.5 trillion next year and raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion.