The measure, which passed with bipartisan support and minor changes, now heads back to the House. It is just the second legislative victory for the new Republican-controlled Congress.

The Senate was preparing Friday to give final approval to a bill that could result in harsher prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers as both Republicans and Democrats seek to show they can act to rein in distribution of the deadly drug.

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.