The House of Representatives has passed a budget bill that would keep the US government operating, while defunding President Barack Obama's healthcare law.
Members voted 230-189, largely along party lines, in favour of the measure.
The BBC reports the Senate has promised to strip the "defund Obamacare" provision next week and Mr Obama has vowed to veto the bill it ever gets that far.
The federal government faces a potential shutdown on 1 October if Congress and the White House do not agree on a temporary budget measure.
Non-essential federal employees will be sent home, national parks closed and passport offices shut.
But programmes like air traffic control, food inspection and the US border agency would keep running.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was passed in 2010. It requires businesses with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance to all their full-time personnel, or pay a series of increasingly severe penalties.
Mr Obama has said he will not be forced into making budget concessions as he did during the 2011 debt crisis, where he accepted a $US2.1 trillion spending cut over a decade.
Bill to cut food stamp benefits passed by House
The US House of Representatives narrowly voted on Thursday to cut food stamp benefits from next year.
The bill was passed by 217 votes to 200. But the BBC reports it has little chance in the Senate.
The bill would save $US39 billion over a decade, but would affect four million people on the programme.
Census data on Wednesday showed 15% of Americans live in poverty. An estimated one in seven Americans receive food stamps.
The bill aims to cut $US4 billion per year, representing about 5% of the current programme. The savings would be achieved by allowing states to use work requirements for recipients and test applicants for drugs.
The bill would also end waivers to allow able-bodied adults without dependents to receive food stamps indefinitely.
According to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food programme bill has tripled since 2004 and cost about $US78 billion last year.
On Wednesday, the White House threatened to veto the legislation. Every Democrat voting on Thursday opposed the bill. Fifteen Republicans voted against the measure.
But House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said it was "wrong for working, middle-class people to pay" for abuse of the programme.
The BBC reports a bill passed in the Senate in June cut food stamps by $US400 million per year, a tenth of the House cuts.
