Congress OK’s stripped-down spending bill

The bill goes to President Obama, who was expected to sign it before midnight last night, when a lack of funds would have forced a government shutdown.

The measure is needed because the Democratic-controlled Congress — in an unprecedented breakdown of the budget process — has failed to pass a single one of the 12 annual spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of every federal agency.

The spending bill is expected to protect, at least temporarily, a large defense contract funding a jet engine that would be partially built in Lynn, Mass. General Electric, which makes the backup prototype engine to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, said the program would provide up to 400 jobs in Lynn.

Although the legislation does not include a specific provision for the backup engine, a key interpretation from the Office of Management and Budget indicates the project will continue to be funded. The budget office sent a letter to several senators, including Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, saying the legislation would allow funding for the project to continue.

The legislation also includes a provision that allows the Navy to award 10 new coastal ships. The combat ships would be built by a consortium including General Dynamics, which said it would add 500 jobs to an electronics plant in Pittsfield if the project is approved. The Pentagon has backed the move to increase the order of new ships from 10 to 20.

“When jobs come and go it can hollow out a community and we all worked our tails off to make sure that didn’t happen,’’ Kerry said in a statement. “We’ve been on pins and needles to see if we were successful and it ended up better than we could have hoped.’’

The chain of events sets up a confrontation next year between Obama and Republicans, who will control the House.

The next speaker of the House, John Boehner of Ohio, and other GOP leaders have promised to try to cut most domestic agency budgets back to pre-Obama levels. Such cuts would exceed 20 percent for some agencies.