Lawmakers' Primary Goal: Prevent Federal Gov. Shutdown

$1 trillion spending bill would fund government until March

House lawmakers, back in Washington for a brief pre-election session, proposed a bill Monday to make sure the government doesn't shut down at the end of the month. 

Lawmakers unveiled a six-month, $1 trillion spending bill that would finance the government's day-to-day operations until next March. The short-term budget bill is what's known as a "continuing resolution," or CR, and without it the government would largely close its doors.   

Averting that shut-down, though, represents the bare minimum for what Congress could conceivably tackle.