House passes bill to pay furloughed workers

WASHINGTON -- The House has passed a bill to give 800,000 furloughed federal workers retroactive pay once the government reopens.

The House passed the bill in a rare Saturday session. The vote was 407-0.

The Senate was expected to OK it as well, but the timing is unclear.

The White House backs the legislation.

The federal government been partially shut down since Tuesday, the start of the new budget year.

Both President Barack Obama and Congress are in Washington on Saturday, but there's no apparent progress in ending the shutdown.

After the voting, House are planning to leave town and not return until Monday evening.

The House has passed several bills to reopen selected parts of the federal government. Democrats are rejecting the piecemeal approach, saying the entire government should be reopened.

Obama says he expects Congress will raise debt cap

President Barack Obama says he doesn't expect Congress to breach the deadline to increase the nation's borrowing limit.

He says he's willing to negotiate changes to his signature health care law and to find ways to reduce spending, but stresses he will not bargain until after Congress reopens the government and passed a new debt ceiling.

Obama says there's a majority of lawmakers in the House who would vote to end the partial government shutdown and raise the credit limit without conditions.

Obama spoke during an interview with The Associated Press.

The government is expected to hits its $16.7 trillion debt ceiling in mid-October.

Failure to raise that limit could lead to a first-ever default. Republicans want cuts in federal benefit programs and future deficits in exchange for their votes.

Pentagon: Most furloughed civilians ordered back

The Pentagon is ordering most of its approximately 400,000 furloughed civilian employees back to work.

The decision by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is based on a Pentagon legal interpretation of a law called the Pay Our Military Act.

That measure was passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama shortly before the partial government shutdown began Tuesday.

The Pentagon did not immediately say on Saturday exactly how many workers will return to work. The Defense Department said "most" were being brought back.

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barack obama, republicans, obamacare, health care, health insurance, congress, government shutdown, furloughs, politics

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