The US Senate has passed a budget bill to fund the US government until the end of September, a step toward averting a government shutdown later this month. The measure, approved in a bipartisan 73-26 vote, has been sent back to the House for a vote expected today. It retains 85 billion dollars in spending cuts this year that took effect on 1 March but gives agencies new flexibility in implementing them. If the budget deal is signed into law by President Barack Obama, Republicans and Democrats in Congress will next have to agree on a budget for the next fiscal year, which begins on 1 October.