Senate appropriators agree on stopgap bill to avert shutdown - UPI.com

Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Continuing Resolution to Fund Government Through December

Aug. 3 — The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a continuing resolution that would extend current federal funding levels through Dec. 11 and prevent a lapse in appropriations at the end of the current fiscal year. The measure was unveiled Sunday by the panel’s leaders and is scheduled for an initial procedural vote in the full Senate on Monday evening.

The bill would keep most agencies operating at fiscal year 2026 levels while making limited adjustments to selected programs. Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the legislation improves on earlier drafts by retaining funding flexibility for several domestic agencies. Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, described the text as “straightforward” and noted that it incorporates “necessary adjustments” for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.

The continuing resolution returns to the House for consideration if the Senate passes it. The House approved its own version of the measure last month. Both chambers must agree on identical language before the bill can be presented to President Donald Trump. Current appropriations expire Sept. 30; without new legislation, agencies would face a funding gap and some operations would halt.

The agreement comes after months of negotiations over the 12 regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2027. Republicans hold narrow majorities in both chambers. In the House, legislation can advance on party-line votes. In the Senate, most spending measures require 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles, making some Democratic support necessary.

The Trump administration has proposed a 44 percent increase in national defense spending and a 10 percent reduction in base non-defense discretionary spending. Those proposals, along with additional immigration enforcement provisions, have drawn opposition from Democrats during earlier budget talks.

Murray stated that the continuing resolution “blocks a corrupt policy that would allow Trump to hold even more federal grants hostage” and “closes House Republicans’ loophole to pull funding for other agencies to give Border Patrol.” The bill text itself contains provisions that limit the administration’s ability to redirect certain grant funds and that restrict the transfer of appropriations between accounts for border-related activities, according to summaries released by committee staff.

Collins emphasized that the measure provides additional time for bipartisan work on the full-year appropriations bills. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats support the continuing resolution because it maintains funding while negotiations continue. Schumer added that Democrats seek appropriations outcomes that assist American families and oppose administration spending priorities they view as misaligned with those goals.

The measure does not resolve the underlying disagreements over total spending levels or policy riders that have delayed completion of the regular appropriations process. Lawmakers have indicated they will use the additional weeks to attempt to reach agreement on the remaining bills before the new Dec. 11 deadline.

If enacted, the continuing resolution would mark the latest in a series of temporary funding extensions used by Congress in recent years when full-year appropriations have not been completed on schedule. The legislation now moves to the Senate floor for further consideration.