As we’ve already seen this week, Congress is making progress in completing its work to fund the government through the end of fiscal year 2026 in September, with the January 31 deadline quickly approaching. US Senate A new group passed Of the spending bills — a minibus — on Thursday, which are now headed to President Trump’s desk for his signature.
The Senate on Thursday passed a package of three spending bills, reaching the halfway point in its push to fund the government for fiscal year 2026 before a deadline at the end of the month.
Senators gave the green light to the second three-bill minibus, 82-15. The package included measures to finance the ministries of commerce, justice, energy, and interior until the end of September.
…
Overall, Congress has approved six funding measures, and the remaining six are expected to be implemented in the next two weeks.
However, the process still has some hurdles for lawmakers to overcome.
As my colleague Ward Clark wrote on Wednesday: “The US House of Representatives passed a package of bills to fund the Treasury and State Departments. The bill was approved by a vote of 341 to 79.” However, one hurdle that remains in the way is Democratic resistance to funding the Department of Homeland Security.
Read more: House passes new Treasury and state funding duo to avert shutdowns
That issue Not resolved In the House, something that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he was optimistic about being reached by the appropriators, in remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday:
“Specialists are working on another package of the four remaining bills, which I hope will receive the same bipartisan support that has characterized the appropriations cycle thus far. Before the end of the month, the Senate will need to process all of these funding bills and get them on the president’s desk.”
All told, the spending measure passed by Thune and the Senate would cost $174 billion.
The Senate was in recess after passing the minibus on Thursday, so it will take up the House legislation later, as the latter works on the last half of spending bills next week, as The Hill reported in its story linked above:
The House of Representatives is scheduled to move on the remaining measures next week. The House of Representatives is scheduled to be out of town during the last week of January.
…
Senators are on recess until next week during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
We will keep you updated.
Editor’s note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and fires up the media? Support our work so we can continue bringing you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.