Amid a lot of sound and fury, late on Sept. 30 Congress got itself together to pass a temporary funding bill that funded the government and averted at the last minute a government shutdown—for 47 days. Forty-seven days later, Congress did exactly the same thing and passed two temporary funding bills that funded the government and averted again a last-minute government shutdown, this time extending government funding for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19, 2024, and continuing funding for others until Feb. 2.