Just hours before the scheduled US government shutdown, the House of Representatives has reached an agreement on a short-term funding deal.

The bill, which will keep the government funded until mid-November but does not include any new assistance for Ukraine, was passed in the chamber with a vote of 335 to 91.

This measure now awaits approval from the Senate, the upper congressional chamber, but it is expected to pass. Once it is signed into law, it will prevent a disruption of federal services.

The shutdown, which would have resulted in tens of thousands of federal employees being placed on unpaid furlough and the suspension of various government services, was originally set to begin at 00:01 ET (04:01 GMT) on Sunday.

However, in a sudden turn of events on Saturday afternoon, House Republicans rushed to pass a temporary funding measure that would keep the government operational for an additional 45 days without making significant concessions on spending levels.

Interestingly, more Democrats supported this measure than Republicans, with as many as 90 Republicans voting against it.

This development represents a setback for a small faction of right-wing Republicans who had been obstructing negotiations in the chamber with their unwavering demands for spending cuts.

Nevertheless, given the majority of lawmakers' determination to prevent a shutdown, one of the faction's key demands, which involved halting further US funding for Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion, has been incorporated into the bill.

Government shutdowns occur when both chambers of Congress fail to reach an agreement on the approximately 30% of federal spending that they must approve before the start of each fiscal year on October 1.

With Republicans holding a narrow majority in the House and Democrats having control of the Senate by a single seat, any funding measure requires bipartisan support.

Recent attempts to pass spending bills in the House have been hindered by a group of rebel right-wing Republicans who oppose short-term spending measures and advocate for cost reductions through long-term spending bills with agency-specific savings, even though such bills have limited prospects of advancing through the Senate.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy had been extremely reluctant to rely on Democratic votes to pass the House's bill until the last minute, given this would anger these hard-line conservative members of his party.

But Democrats did not get everything they wanted. In order to avoid a shutdown, they had to abandon their hopes of providing further military aid to Ukraine.

They - and Republicans who also support more Ukraine money - will keep pressing for more funding, but officials in President Joe Biden's administration have warned that, in the short term, there could be disruption to the Ukrainian war effort.

"We fully expect Speaker McCarthy, who has stated his support for funding to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia's illegal and unjustified war of aggression, will bring a separate bill to the floor shortly," a White House official told the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Chaos had engulfed Capitol Hill ahead of the vote as members of both parties sought clarity on the best path forward to avert a shutdown.

As House Democrats complained that they were unable to read Republicans' latest offer before voting on it, one - Jamaal Bowman of New York - appeared to have pulled a fire alarm in one building to buy more time.

Pulling fire alarms when there is no fire emergency is a criminal offence punishable by prison time in Washington.

A spokesperson from Mr Bowman's office said he "did not realise he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion".

Mr McCarthy slammed the move as "a new low" for the House at a news conference in which he took credit for the successful House vote.

His counterpart, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, argued his party had bailed out Republicans following "a complete and total surrender to right-wing extremists who throughout the year have tried to hijack the Congress".

Lawmakers in the Senate are expected to quickly take up the bill and attempt to pass it within hours on Saturday, so it can be rushed to President Biden's desk for his signature.

Assuming the Senate follows the House's lead and quickly approves its short-term bill, the government will stay open - at least for now.

But this drama is likely to be repeated again in 45 days, as fundamental disagreements over government spending levels and policies between Republicans and Democrats, and among Republicans themselves, have not been resolved.

In the meantime, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz and hard-line conservatives in the House have a decision to make.

Mr McCarthy's decision to rely on Democratic votes to pass the short-term bill was supposedly a red line that, if crossed, would prompt a right-wing rebellion in the House and an attempt to remove Mr McCarthy from his leadership position, by triggering a so-called motion to vacate.

At his Saturday news conference, Mr McCarthy challenged those who oppose him. "If somebody wants to bring a motion against me, bring it," he said. "There has to be an adult in the room."

The days ahead will reveal whether Mr. Gaetz and company were serious about their threat - or just bluffing.

Noted