Washington DC - US lawmakers have passed a continuing resolution at the last minute to avoid a government shutdown.

On Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer shared a statement on X, announcing that Congress finally came to an agreement on a bipartisan bill that "helps Americans affected by hurricanes and natural disasters, helps out farmers, and avoids harmful cuts."

The House voted on the bill on Friday evening, with all House Democrats backing it and 22 Republicans voting against it.

The Senate's approval came just hours later, when the midnight deadline had already expired by minutes.

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According to The Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who introduced it shortly before the vote, praised its passing, promising it would "deliver for the American people."

In recent weeks, both chambers have been divided on the bill. President-elect Donald Trump ordered Republican members to kill an original bipartisan agreement after his "efficiency czar," Elon Musk, came out aggressively against it.

The day before the bill passed, Trump demanded in a Truth Social post that the party "should never make a deal," and in a follow-up, he added that if a shutdown does happen, it needs to happen while Joe Biden is still president.

If the bill hadn't passed, the government would have ceased to be funded at midnight, and non-essential operations would abruptly halt, with up to 875,000 workers furloughed and 1.4 million more required to work without pay.