Congress Turns to Final Appropriations Bills Following End of Government Shutdown

As previously reported by COSSA, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) that extends fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding through to January 30, 2026, ending the weeks-long government shutdown and giving Appropriators additional time to finish their work on FY 2026 funding. Currently, only three appropriations bills have been enacted into law—each having been attached to the CR—including the Agriculture bill, Legislative Branch bill, and Veteran Affairs bill.

Despite delays, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has reiterated that the Senate has plans to consider the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS), Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS), and Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bills in a single package, using the Defense bill as a vehicle to pass the other more controversial bills. However, the House is also set to consider their own version of these bills and is rumored to be considering two smaller packages. Last week, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) also indicated that the Committee intends to hold mark-ups for their final four budget bills—Energy and Water, Financial Services, Homeland Security, and State and Foreign Operations—ahead of the January CR deadline.

On November 20, the top appropriators from both chambers met to negotiate on a final spending package; however, after the meeting, House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) confirmed that an agreement had not been reached, punting any further negotiations to December when Congress returns from their week-long Thanksgiving recess. On November 24, the Senate Appropriations’ Energy and Water subcommittee Chair John Kennedy (R-LA) released draft text of the Energy and Water appropriations bill, which included a 6.5 percent cut to non-defense programs but a 3 percent increase to defense programs. In response to the bill, Sen. Murray expressed disappointment that the Senate Republicans had released a “partisan bill” instead of negotiating with the Democrats. However, she commended some of the provisions included in the bill, including language that would restrict any policy changes to the Department of Energy’s process of negotiating indirect cost rate with universities.

Rep. Cole has also publicly stated that any bills that are not passed by January 30 will likely be packaged into a year-long CR, but this is a widely unpopular proposal among both Democrats and Republicans alike. Beyond the numbers, report language could also complicate the passage of any final appropriations bills as Democrats on both sides of the Capitol push to include language to prohibit mass federal layoffs, bolster federal employee protections, and limit the Administration’s ability to cancel federal grants.

Earlier this month, Senate Republicans verbally agreed to a vote on legislation that would propose extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare subsidies, as requested by Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown. Several members of the House also sent a bipartisan letter to Senate Majority Leader Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) encouraging them to prioritize the health subsidies in the upcoming months. But President Trump has since said that he has no intention of signing any final legislation relating to the issue, compounding tensions on Capitol Hill. It is possible that the Senate and House Democrats could seek an agreement on the ACA subsidies before advancing any final appropriations bills, returning to the same negotiations that led to the government shutdown. Regardless, Congress still has a long road ahead of them to pass the remaining nine appropriations bills, and a rapidly approaching deadline riddled with holiday recesses signals a difficult few months ahead.

Stay tuned for COSSA’s continued coverage on the appropriations process.