Daily Updates

The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Friday to pass a major funding package consisting of five regular appropriations bills and a two-week stopgap measure for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  The 71-29 vote caps a week of Senate drama after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, sparking a…

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and President Donald J. Trump are moving toward a deal to separate Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding from five other House-passed appropriations bills in hopes of avoiding a partial government shutdown this weekend.  No agreement has been reached yet but the discussions are ongoing and moving in…

Senate Republicans and Democrats will head into separate lunches Wednesday for their first in-person conference meetings on how to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the week with partisan divisions over the Homeland Security bill reaching the brink amid a weather-shortened week.  Democrats expect to come out of lunch with a firmer…

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) announced Monday that Senate Democrats are prepared to speed up passage of five government funding bills — but not funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — to avoid a large swath of the government shutting down at the end of the week.  Senate Majority Leader John…

Chances for a partial shutdown of the U.S. government by the end of this week grew exponentially on Sunday due to outrage over federal immigration agents fatally shooting Alex Pretti in Minnesota, the second such horrific incident this month.  A growing crowd of Democratic senators warned that they will not vote for a massive $1.2…

The House Rules Committee voted Thursday morning to set up floor action on the four bills top appropriators released this week following a bipartisan, bicameral breakthrough on funding for the vast majority of the federal government, including the Pentagon and the largest domestic agencies.  The House will not vote on amendments to the DHS funding…

Congressional leaders released the final four measures to fund the government Tuesday, as lawmakers race to avoid yet another government shutdown at the end of the month.  Congress has until January 30th to fund the remaining government agencies and programs, after approving a three-bill funding package as part of the effort to end the longest…

Congress is moving along this month on efforts to fund the federal government and prevent another January 30th shutdown, but the toughest fights are yet to come.  Entering the week, the House had already passed six of the 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal 2026, three are now already law, and Wednesday the chamber added…

The House on Wednesday advanced a two-bill package to fund large parts of the government, teeing up a final vote later today.  The lower chamber voted 213-210 on the rule governing the spending package, which sets up debate and a vote on final passage. The legislation provides roughly $76 billion to fund the Department of…

As the House and Senate reconvene this week, lawmakers are racing against the clock as they work to push through the remaining appropriations bills ahead of the January 30th government shutdown deadline.  The Senate is expected to take up a minibus appropriations package that would fund the Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, key science…