Congress is speeding toward a shutdown deadline.

Vice President J.D. Vance got a frosty reception at a D.C. concert.

And controversy over a baby wombat video is sweeping Australia.

That's some of what we'll get to on The Seven from the Washington Post.

I'm Rennie Sarnovsky in Verhanna-Jule.

It's Friday, March 14th. Let's get you caught up with

today's seven stories. Number one, Congress has hours left to avert a federal government

shutdown. The government is set to shut down at 12.01 a.m. Eastern, unless lawmakers pass a bill to keep it open.

A Republican bill to avert a shutdown pass the House on Tuesday, so now it's down to the Senate.

But passing it before the deadline could be complicated.

Republicans require a handful of Democratic votes to clear a 60-vote threshold.

So Democrats are trapped between Iraq and a hard place.

They either support a bill that could help to enable President Donald Trump's agenda or reject it

and risk being blamed for a disruptive federal shutdown.

The bill won some key Democratic support yesterday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck

Schumer said he plans to vote for the GOP bill. For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible

option. It is not a clean CR. It is deeply partisan. It doesn't address far too many of this country's needs.

But I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even more, even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option.

Schumer has privately told senators that there are enough Democratic votes to

avert a shutdown, but it's still set to be a dramatic day on Capitol Hill. You can find

live updates throughout the day on the post homepage. Judges ordered Trump officials to offer

jobs back to thousands of federal workers.

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