By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Top U.S. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer on Thursday said he would vote to advance a Republican stopgap funding bill, signaling that his party would provide the votes to avert a government shutdown.

Schumer relented one day after he vowed Senate Democrats would thwart the "partisan" measure, saying the "chaos" of a government shutdown would be a worse option.

N.Y., said he will vote to advance the Republican funding extension and avoid a government shutdown at the end of the day Friday. "While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much,