Every year, Congress must complete and pass 12 appropriations bills to fund government operations. As of September 4th, no appropriations bills have passed both the House and Senate for FY26; however, the House has passed two bills on the floor, while the Senate has passed three with bipartisan support, indicating significant progress but a lack of synchronized passage by both chambers. The chambers have also made progress on other bills within committees, though no additional bills have achieved passage in both houses. 

Facing a looming government funding deadline at the end of the month, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) met privately last week to discuss a short-term extension into November or December, according to POLITICO.

Johnson told reporters earlier this week that he is still working to build consensus among Republican lawmakers on the length of a potential continuing resolution (CR). Many rank-and-file Republicans oppose stopgap measures, while Democrats are questioning why they should agree to a short-term deal without concrete concessions.

So far, Johnson has resisted Democratic calls to roll back spending cuts to health care programs contained in the GOP’s sweeping appropriations bill passed in early July.

Publicly, both parties appear to be laying the groundwork to shift blame if a shutdown occurs.

  • “The ball will be in [Democrats’] corner,” Johnson said this week.
  • “We’ve been moving forward on appropriations. We’ll be gathering steam to do that. We do not believe it’s in the nation’s interest to close the government down.
  • So if [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer, and the Democrats have that in mind, I think that’s deeply regrettable.”

Jeffries, meanwhile, confirmed that he had spoken with Johnson, but added: “I also made clear we’re not going to support partisan funding legislation … period.”