The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown until early December, with Republican leaders seeking to defuse a volatile issue ahead of the November midterm elections.
House Vote and Next Steps
The continuing resolution, authorizing government spending until December 4, passed by a vote of 220-205, largely along party lines. It now moves to the Senate, where it will need bipartisan support to pass.
Current government spending authority expires on September 30. Top Republicans argued the measure was necessary to ensure Democrats do not block funding in the Senate, as they did last year for a record 43 days over tax credits and twice this year over immigration enforcement reforms.
Republican Justification
“Our conference refuses to let the obstruction and inaction of Senate Democrats trigger another manufactured shutdown at the end of September. That is why we are acting before a funding lapse crisis, not in response to it,” said Tom Cole, House appropriations committee chair who spearheaded the resolution.
Earlier Tuesday, lawmakers agreed to move forward on the stopgap measure and a budget framework for a $95 billion party-line package, in a 214-211 vote.
Democratic Opposition
Rosa DeLauro, the Democratic ranking member on the House appropriations committee, denied her party sought a shutdown and called the stopgap “necessary,” but opposed the Republican-backed measure as “hastily” conceived. She noted it funds border patrol without “substantial reforms” to the agency involved in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“We are putting the cart before the horse by considering this legislation without understanding the full scope of what is needed to continue operations through December 4,” DeLauro said.
Funding Challenges Ahead
While the House has passed three appropriations measures for fiscal year 2027 starting October 1, the Senate has approved none. Republican leaders in the chamber said they are negotiating with Senate Democrats on their own short-term funding bill.
If the Senate fails to pass the measure, funding talks will intensify in September when Congress returns from recess, with the end-of-month deadline looming. These talks could be complicated by the midterm elections, where Democrats hope to retake the House and possibly the Senate.
