The House managed to pass a bill avoiding a government shutdown just days before funding runs out

• The House passed a bill to avoid a government shutdown, with Democrats signing on.
• The legislation would fund federal agencies with two staggered deadlines.

Just days before the government was set to run out of funding, the House managed to pass a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown — again.

On Tuesday, 209 Democrats joined Republicans in passing Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's "laddered" short-term continuing resolution by a vote of 336-95. The legislation would extend government funding for four spending bills until January 19, while funding the remaining eight bills through February 2.

"The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded-up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess," Johnson said in a statement over the weekend.

As usual, it was a rocky road to reach the passage of this legislation. The continuing resolution was clean, meaning it did not include the steep funding cuts many conservative lawmakers wanted as a condition to keep the government funded. On Tuesday, just hours before the vote, the House Freedom Caucus released a statement opposing the legislation because it "contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American People."

"Republicans must stop negotiations against ourselves over fears of what the Senate may do with the promise 'roll over today and we'll fight tomorrow,'" the caucus said. "While we remain committed to working with Speaker Johnson, we need bold change."

The bill now heads to the Senate, and if passed, President Joe Biden will sign it into law. The legislation once again keeps Americans from experiencing the consequences of a shutdown, which would be severe depending on its duration. Thousands of federal workers would be furloughed at the outset, meaning customer service for federal benefits like Social Security would be strained.

And while Johnson's "laddered" approach was not what some Democratic lawmakers had in mind, they said they would support a clean solution that would keep Americans from experiencing a government shutdown.

"The main thing is we have a clean continuing resolution and we don't shut the government down," Rep. Brendan Boyle, top Democrat on the Budget Committee, told reporters on Monday. "Shutting the government down would cost taxpayers billions of dollars and impede our economic recovery."