The House of Representatives voted Tuesday night to extend current government funding levels until December 4, postponing a potential shutdown until after the November midterm elections. The measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), pushes the deadline several weeks into fiscal year 2027.
This decision is seen as a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans, who sought to prevent a contentious spending debate immediately preceding a challenging election cycle where they aim to maintain their narrow majority. Republicans have warned that Democrats might intentionally trigger a shutdown to influence voters heading to the polls.
"Unfortunately, given that Democrats have already forced the two longest government shutdowns in American history in this Congress, one of them for 78 days, they've already demonstrated they don't care what kind of pain they inflict on the American people," Speaker Johnson told reporters. "They've shown there's nothing they'd love more than a government shutdown as tens of millions of Americans head to the polls in November."
House Democratic leadership indicated they would vote against the CR. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar stated there were "drafting errors within the CR that give Customs and Border Patrol flexibility to move money around" and expressed concern about the administration's funding within reconciliation 2.0.
Meanwhile, the Senate is pursuing its own funding extension plan. Sources indicate that Senate appropriators are crafting a CR that includes key extensions for programs set to expire by the September 30 deadline, which they believe were omitted from the House's proposal. These programs are referred to as anomalies and were sent to the Senate from the White House on Monday.
Sen. John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are collaborating to avert a shutdown. He expressed hope that the Senate's CR could be brought to the floor for a vote before the upcoming August recess, noting that the House is expected to adjourn for the break soon.
"Look, we appreciate the House moving forward with theirs. It's, you know, very clean," Hoeven said. "There are just a few issues that we think need to be the rest. Because, obviously, we need to get Democrats on board with us, right now, they're working with us."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also signaled support for a bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded and operational, aiming for a vote on the matter before the August recess.