On Wednesday, the President signed the Continuing Resolution (CR) that extends funding for federal agencies to December 11 after the House passed the Senate version of the CR. House Appropriations Chair Cole and ranking member DeLauro said they wanted to wrap the FY’27 bills up when they return after the November elections. The House has advanced all 12 of annual appropriations bills out of committee with three bills voted on by the full House. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not released or marked up any of its bills. The extended absence of Senator McConnell has added a further complication, leaving Republicans without a functional majority on the full committee. The wide gap between defense and nondefense spending levels poses the largest hurdle to wrapping up spending bills this year, as President Trump seeks a roughly 42 percent increase in national security spending and Democrats demanding an equal share for domestic programs.

Another contentious issue in December will be a proposed federal rule that would require senior political officials to review grants. While appropriators in both parties don’t like the proposed rule and temporarily delayed the implementation of the rule in the CR, the administration and Republican leaders are likely to push to lift that freeze in the end game. It’s also not yet clear if Democrat leaders will want to punt funding into the next Congress if the party takes back one or both chambers in the midterm elections. The elections will also leave limited time for lawmakers to reach a deal before the current CR expires.