Congressional leaders unveiled an agreement Thursday that would keep the federal government funded into mid-February, but it's unclear if the deal would be enough to avoid a rapidly approaching government shutdown on midnight Friday.House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, announced the latest plan, which would go through Feb. 18, and the House is expected to vote as soon as Thursday, though the real issue for quick passage is in the Senate. The only way to avoid a shutdown is for all 100 senators to agree to schedule a vote before the deadline, and some Senate Republicans have threatened to hold up the bill over President Joe Biden's vaccine mandates.While lawmakers are confident that they can ultimately prevent a prolonged shutdown, a brief shutdown over the weekend, or extending into next week, remains a possibility.Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also said negotiators had reached a deal, though it was unclear as of Thursday morning if the agreement meant that all 50 members of the GOP conference supported quick passage."I'm pleased that we have finally reached an agreement on the continuing resolution," Shelby said. "Now we must get serious about completing FY22 bills. I have said many times that work can only begin if we agree to start FY22 where we finished FY21. That means maintaining legacy riders, eliminating poison pills, and getting serious about the funding we are going to provide for our nation's defense. If that doesn't happen, we'll be having this same conversation in February."Separate from the vaccine issue, Democrats had wanted to extend funding only into January, a concession DeLauro acknowledged in her statement."To build pressure for an omnibus, the CR includes virtually no changes to existing funding or policy (anomalies)," DeLauro said in the announcement. "However, Democrats prevailed in including $7 billion for Afghanistan evacuees. The end date is February 18. While I wish it were earlier, this agreement allows the appropriations process to move forward toward a final funding agreement which addresses the needs of the American people."

As a third-grade elementary school teacher, Reed Clapp never imagined he would be finishing the school year sitting inside the living room of his home. But the COVID-19 outbreak had other plans for this teacher and so many others across the country.

Undeterred by a nationwide pandemic, Clapp was determined to finish out this school year the same as any other: with a play that he and fellow teacher, Karen Snyder, have produced for the last five years.

“This is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever taken on,” he said, sitting inside the living room of his home in Nashville, Tennessee.

The name of the show Clapp and his class would perform in years past was called, “Grammarella,” a satirical production of Cinderella, where every student plays a part of speech. The character Interrogative, for example, can only speak in questions.

On the last day of every school year, Clapp’s students would perform the play in front of their classmates at Madison Creek Elementary School in Hendersonville, Tennessee. It’s become such a hit over the years that there’s typically not an empty seat in the school’s library on opening afternoon, which is also closing night. There’s only one showing.

But how could Clapp, harness that same kind of magic without his kids physically at school?

After a few weeks of thinking, he decided the answer to that question was right in front of him: he’d move the play to Zoom, a virtual video platform.

“Instead of saying, ‘we won’t have a play this year,’ we decided to say, ‘how can we do something that is original and something these kids are proud of?” he said.

As summer vacation loomed, Clapp and his third-graders began to double down on their work. This energetic 33-year-old teacher with a thick southern drawl knew the script for “Grammarella” would have to be thrown out. So, he started from scratch and came up with an original screenplay, “Zoomarella.”

Students auditioned for lead roles on Zoom, and they even practiced social distancing by picking up costumes that Mr. Clapp and Ms. Snyder had left outside on their front porches.

Over the course of a few weeks, the play started coming together. Eight and 9-year-old students learned how to be punctual for rehearsal times, that instead of being held in the classroom, they were being held on Zoom. While Clapp’s original intent was to help students learn grammar, he quickly released that “Zoomarella” was teaching his students more important life skills.

“Yes, they’re 8 years old, but when we say, ‘we need some light behind you,’ what we’re really saying is, ‘what can you do to put a light behind you?’” he explained.

“These kids have become set designers, light designers, camera operators. It’s amazing,” he added.

And for students facing isolation at home, rehearsals offered a sense of a vehicle for creativity that might have otherwise been lost when the school closed.

“The stuff that has been the hardest is getting facial expressions and acting with your body. You have to use your body and facial expressions and not just when it’s your turn to talk,” explained 9-year-old Autumn Fair.

Weeks of practicing finally paid off for Fair and her classmates, as “Zoomarella” was performed without a hitch during the last week of school. And even though the kids might not have been able to hear the applause through their Zoom meeting, Clapp says he couldn’t have been prouder of his kids.

“I hope they take away a moment in time that’s been captured in a unique way. Instead of looking back on all this through news stories, they’ll have this play to look back on,” the proud teacher said.

Watch “Zoomarella” below:

The U.S. House voted to approve a short-term funding bill by a vote of 254-175. The vote followed passage in the Senate.

The bill, which allows the government to remain open until early December, now heads to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the stopgap spending legislation would also provide aid for those reeling from Hurricane Ida and other natural disasters, as well as funding to support Afghanistan evacuees from the 20-year war between the U.S. and the Taliban.

While Congress moved to avert one crisis, it’s putting off another.

Democrats were forced to remove a suspension of the federal government's borrowing limit from the bill at the insistence of Republicans.

The top priority for lawmakers at the moment is keeping the government funded to avoid a shutdown. But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that if the debt limit isn't raised by Oct. 18, the country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession.

"At that point, we expect Treasury would be left with very limited resources that would be depleted quickly. It is uncertain whether we could continue to meet all the nation's commitments after that date," Yellen wrote in a letter to lawmakers earlier this week.

Yellen warned that waiting until the last minute to address the debt ceiling can cause harm to business and consumer confidence, raise borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the U.S. for years to come.

"Failure to act promptly could also result in substantial disruptions to financial markets, as heightened uncertainty can exacerbate volatility and erode investor confidence," she wrote.

Meanwhile, Democrats are struggling to find a way to pass President Joe Biden's proposed $3.5 trillion budget plan that would fund social programs like universal pre-K and other programs focused on working families — a plan that faces roadblocks from some moderate Democrats.

In order to get the bill passed, Biden will need the support of nearly all 50 Democratic senators due to the current 50-50 split in the Senate.

At a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a positive outlook on negotiations, saying that they are in a "good place" and that she does not plan to delay a vote on the package.

Jereme Alley never intended to open a small business in the middle of a pandemic, but with most of his family’s savings now gone, he is one of thousands of Americans stuck in limbo, waiting for a loan from the federal government.

“We’re just waiting. There’s no information,” the 33-year-old said while standing inside his tattoo parlor in Laconia, New Hampshire. “It makes everything more stressful, because you have no idea what’s happening.”

This retired Marine began renovating a small storefront in this lakeside town at the beginning of March in hopes of pursuing his dream of owning his own tattoo shop. Phoenix Tattoo, as he’s calling it, has customers waiting to come in, but with mandatory stay-at-home restrictions still in place, the shop is empty.

Having spent nearly $20,000 of his own savings, Alley applied for a small business loan as part of the federal stimulus package, but he says he hasn’t heard anything. Meanwhile, he still has to pay rent and utilities for his store with no money coming in.

“It’s a lot of pressure, and there’s nothing we can do,” he said. “And that’s what sucks; we’re just waiting for somebody in Washington or local government to decide what will happen with our fate.”

Like countless small businesses across the country waiting for promised assistance, Alley says even a few hundred dollars would help him stay afloat until customers are allowed back.

He worries about other locally-owned businesses in this small lakeside town that’s nestled near the base of the White Mountains.

“A lot of them are going to go out of business, and it’s really sad,” he said.

For now, the only thing Alley can do is wait.

“My hope is we get some kind of stimulus help or relief help, so we don’t fall more behind,” he added.