House lawmakers are preparing to vote Thursday on a measure to avert a government shutdown, delaying key deadlines and buying themselves more time to complete an even bigger funding agreement.

Facing an end-of-the-week deadline, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill to temporarily fund one set of federal agencies through March 8 and one other set through March 22.

Within the meantime, Congress would aim to pass packages of laws to fund the federal government for the rest of the budget 12 months.

Without motion, a handful of agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, would partially close early Saturday. The remaining agencies, including the Pentagon, would partly shutter after March 8.

Investors might not be hurt by a transient shutdown, as stocks
SPX
 have risen during previous government closures. But farmers would lose access to loans, initial public offerings might be halted and U.S. troops and other federal employees would go without pay.

Read: How a government shutdown could affect you and your money

Each the House and Senate would want to approve the deal to avert a partial shutdown.

Republicans only narrowly control the House, and Speaker Mike Johnson appears prone to be forced to depend on Democrats to assist pass the stopgap spending measure.

The Associated Press contributed.