US lawmakers on Tuesday approved a stop-gap bill to keep the government open as its funding runs out, greatly reducing the threat of a painful shutdown that would leave government workers without pay over Thanksgiving and Congress unable to address urgent crises in Ukraine and Israel.

With the US Capitol paralyzed by infighting for much of its latest session, neither the Democratic-led Senate nor the Republican House of Representatives passed 2024 budgets for the various federal departments by the deadline of midnight Friday into Saturday.

The House approved a bill that essentially puts off the problem until January of 2024 — a presidential election year — but the majority of Republicans needed help from Democrats amid a rebellion among conservatives irritated by the temporary fix.

The so-called "laddered continuing resolution" now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to get a smoother ride, giving lawmakers precious extra weeks for a broader debate on funding the government for the full year.

Worried strategists in Congress and the White House have been outlining the stakes for weeks: a shutdown would mean the world's largest economy pumping the brakes from Saturday — with up to 1.5 million public workers sent home without pay, days before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Most federal facilities — including national parks from the iconic Yosemite and Yellowstone in the west to Florida's Everglades swamp — would close and the air traffic control system could be curtailed, snarling Americans' Thanksgiving travel plans.

The stop-gap bill approved by the House includes none of the policy priorities or drastic spending cuts the Republican right flank is pushing for. Still, more than 90 no votes from conservatives were canceled out by wide support from Democrats.  

'Harmful cuts'

"House Democrats have repeatedly articulated that any continuing resolution must be set at the fiscal year 2023 spending level, be devoid of harmful cuts and free of extreme right-wing policy riders," Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, announcing his support.