The House voted 370-48 Tuesday to extend federal funding through Dec. 11, sending President Donald Trump a temporary spending measure designed to prevent another government shutdown ahead of the November midterm elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The House overwhelmingly approved a temporary government funding measure Tuesday, moving Congress to avert another shutdown just weeks before voters determine control of Capitol Hill in the November midterm elections.
Lawmakers passed the continuing resolution 370-48, extending current federal spending levels through Dec. 11. The measure now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature after winning Senate approval on Aug. 8.
Without congressional action, existing funding would expire Oct. 1, the beginning of the 2027 fiscal year.
Congress has not completed any of the 12 annual appropriations bills needed to finance federal departments and programs for the full fiscal year running from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027.
Those bills fund a broad range of government functions, including homeland security, federal law enforcement, defense, energy and housing.
The stopgap measure gives lawmakers another 15 weeks to complete that work while removing the immediate threat of a shutdown during the final stretch of the midterm campaign.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., acknowledged the political timing during debate.
“This will give Congress time to get past the November elections,” Cole said.
Neither party showed much appetite for another funding standoff before voters head to the polls.
Since Trump began his second term, Congress has endured three partial government shutdowns totaling an unprecedented 161 days amid disputes between the Republican majority and Democrats over issues including health insurance subsidies and restrictions on the enforcement authority of federal immigration officers.
A fourth shutdown risked adding another politically damaging fight at a time when voters are already expressing frustration over food and housing costs, the U.S. war against Iran and tariffs on imported goods that have placed additional pressure on farmers.
Democrats also presented Tuesday’s vote as part of a broader effort to reassert congressional authority over federal spending.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, argued that lawmakers need to reclaim powers she said had been weakened by unilateral actions taken by the Trump administration since early 2025.
Those actions have included deep reductions across federal agencies and the elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“The power of the purse resides within the Congress. It is our exclusive responsibility,” DeLauro said. “The first step in exercising that authority is passing this bill today.”
The continuing resolution resolves the immediate shutdown threat but leaves Congress’ larger fiscal disputes untouched.
The national debt crossed $40 trillion last month, while lawmakers have yet to address long-term spending pressures or the affordability concerns that remain among voters’ most prominent economic complaints.
The measure also postpones decisions over the government’s full-year spending priorities until December.
Congress will then face the difficult task of completing all 12 appropriations bills or agreeing to another temporary funding extension before the Dec. 11 deadline.
The political balance entering those negotiations could look significantly different.
The Nov. 3 congressional elections will determine control of the House and Senate, making the results a major factor in whether Republicans or Democrats enter the year-end spending talks with greater leverage.
For now, Tuesday’s bipartisan House vote removes the immediate threat of an Oct. 1 shutdown and shifts the next major federal funding deadline until several weeks after the midterms.
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