Status of FY 2026 Government Funding

Unless every Senator agrees to a time agreement, the process could take several days to pass in that chamber. Assuming that it eventually does, it will then go to the House.  Republican leadership advised that votes are expected in the House later this week.  The assumption is that a bipartisan House majority will vote in favor of the Senate-passed CR, but the process might be messy.  Some Republicans likely will complain about having to vote for the appropriations bills incorporated in the measure because funding levels are higher than they would have preferred and the chamber has never voted on its own version of two of those bills (Agriculture and Legislative Branch).  But since the President has blessed the deal, Republicans almost certainly will provide the votes necessary to pass it.

Upheavals relating to the shutdown continue mounting and will not abate until the government reopens. Effective last Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a phased-in 10 percent cut in flights across the country’s 40 largest airports, causing significant disruptions to air travel. With regard to federal nutrition programs, the administration had asked an appeals court to suspend a lower court order to tap alternative reserve funds to continue fully funding the SNAP program this month. The appeals court declined to immediately issue a ruling, so the administration filed an emergency appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court. Last Friday evening, the Supreme Court paused the lower court order pending issuance of a decision by the appeals court. That Supreme Court order will remain in place until 48 hours after the appeals court rules, giving the administration time to return to the Supreme Court if the appellate court refuses to suspend the lower court’s order.