The U.S. Senate on Friday passed a stopgap spending bill, averting a partial government shutdown, after Democrats backed down in a standoff driven by anger over President Donald Trump's campaign to slash the federal workforce.

An afternoon vote was expected to clear the way for a Republican-written bill to keep government funding flowing past midnight after the top Senate Democrat said he would not block it.

The US Congress approved the Republican spending bill on Friday, just hours before the deadline, preventing a government shutdown. The bill’s passing, however, unearthed the deep rifts in the Democratic Party,