With only weeks remaining before current stopgap funding expires, lawmakers have made little progress on the majority of full-year appropriations measures.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Congress is running out of time to pass the remaining nine annual government funding bills, with lawmakers making minimal progress as the deadline to avert another government shutdown approaches at the end of January.
The U.S. House is not expected to advance any appropriations legislation before breaking for its Christmas recess, as House leadership is currently focused on a healthcare policy package. Republicans released the text of that proposal late Friday night, unveiling the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act as a counter to a failed Democratic effort to extend enhanced Obamacare Premium Tax Credits.
In the Senate, progress has also stalled. Lawmakers remain deadlocked over a proposed five-bill “minibus” spending package, with a small group of Republican senators objecting to earmarks included in some of the appropriations measures. The package has not yet been publicly released but is reported to contain roughly $5 billion in earmarked spending.
The unresolved minibus would provide fiscal year 2026 funding for several major federal agencies, including those overseeing Transportation and Housing and Urban Development; Defense; Labor and Health and Human Services; Commerce; Justice, Science; and Interior programs.
Congress has approximately seven weeks to finalize a funding solution before federal agencies again face the prospect of running out of money. Even after lawmakers agree on legislative text, it can take two to three weeks for appropriations bills to clear both chambers of Congress.
Most federal agencies are still operating under funding levels set during fiscal year 2024. Lawmakers never enacted a full budget for fiscal year 2025, instead extending government operations through three consecutive continuing resolutions.
The government shut down on Oct. 1 after Democrats declined to support a fourth continuing resolution, citing Republican opposition to extending expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies. The shutdown lasted a record 43 days before Congress passed another stopgap measure to reopen the government. On the same day, lawmakers approved a three-bill minibus that completed work on three of the twelve fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills.
That earlier package provided full-year funding for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; the Food and Drug Administration, Agriculture and Rural Development; and the Legislative Branch. All remaining agencies continue to operate under the current continuing resolution.
If Congress fails to pass the outstanding appropriations bills, or another stopgap measure, by Feb. 1—the expiration date of the current continuing resolution—large portions of the federal government could again shut down.
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