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Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Jack Spear.

The Senate has voted to advance a bill to fund the government through September.

It puts the measure on a glide path to final passage that would avert a government shut down.

And Piers Lexi Shepiddle has more.

The funding bill needed 60 votes to clear a key procedural hurdle on the Senate floor.

Ten Democrats joined Republicans to support the measure, while Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was the lone Republican no vote.

Senate Democrats spent the week weighing what they saw as two bad options,

voting for a funding bill they didn't like or letting the government shut down. Those opposed

argued that supporting the bill gives President Trump and his advisor Elon Musk the leeway to

continue slashing the federal government without oversight. The vote highlights deep divisions

within the Democratic Party over how best to respond to Trump in his second term.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's decision to support the bill sparked intense backlash for many House Democrats.

Lexi Shippetal, NPR News, Washington.

Top diplomats with a group of seven industrialized nations are joining together to express support for Ukraine and a U.S. proposed ceasefire an effort to bring Russia to the table to end its now three-year-old war against Ukraine.

The message from the G7 representatives come at the end of talks in Quebec, which were overshadowed by President Donald Trump's tariff against their countries.

Trump has already leveled tariffs against Canadian steel and aluminum.

He also continued to talk about Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state. The Senate is poised to give final approval to legislation that would impose stricter penalties on fentanyl traffickers. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the bipartisan bill which passed the House last month. It's also expected to gain support from both parties in the upper chamber.

The legislation proposes to permanently classify fentanyl as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

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