Congress Faces September 30 Deadline to Prevent Government Shutdown

Congress will return to session on Tuesday with less than four weeks to approve funding legislation and prevent a government shutdown when current appropriations expire on Sept. 30.

Lawmakers may pass a temporary funding plan, called a continuing resolution, to keep the government running while they work on full-year spending bills. However, disagreements within and between parties could make even this short-term solution difficult.

Republican leaders will need Democratic support in the Senate to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Many Democrats, frustrated by recent unilateral moves by Republicans and the White House, have not yet agreed on a strategy. Some Republicans oppose a short-term measure altogether, calling instead for passage of full-year appropriations or a year-long extension, which Democrats argue would reduce spending in real terms because of inflation.

Adding to the challenge, President Donald Trump last week canceled nearly $5 billion in foreign aid without getting Congress’s approval, drawing criticism from both parties. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who leads the Senate Appropriations Committee, called the move “a clear violation of the law.”

Before leaving for the August recess, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) said Congress would probably need a short-term funding extension. “It’s going to be tough” to avoid passing a continuing resolution, he added.

Congressional leaders have not determined how long a potential stopgap bill would last or whether it would be a “clean” measure that maintains current funding levels without policy changes.

Besides the budget talks, Congress is dealing with other issues. House Republicans are considering pushing to make Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein public, while Senate Republicans are looking at changing rules to speed up approval of presidential nominees.

The budget debate follows several GOP actions earlier this year. Republicans passed a bill that extended income tax cuts, funded immigration enforcement, and rolled back parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Congressional Budget Office said the Medicaid changes in the law could leave about 10 million fewer people with health insurance over the next ten years. Republicans also cut $9 billion from public media and foreign aid, which Democrats opposed.

The Trump administration has continued withholding congressionally appropriated funds it considers inconsistent with presidential priorities, centralizing spending authority within the Office of Management and Budget.

Democratic lawmakers have warned that continued executive actions could make negotiations more difficult. “It’s going to be increasingly hard to justify voting for bills that aren’t worth the paper they’re written on because the president is willfully and brazenly violating the law,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

Some Democrats are demanding policy concessions in exchange for supporting a funding measure, including extending Affordable Care Act subsidies scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said failure to extend the subsidies could cause more than 4 million Americans to lose health insurance and raise costs for another 20 million.

Republicans remain divided on whether to include earmarks for specific district projects in any stopgap bill. Trump administration officials have also pledged further rescissions to satisfy deficit-focused Republicans concerned about the projected \$4.1 trillion deficit impact of the GOP tax law.

President Trump has said he will meet with Democratic leaders this month to discuss funding but expressed skepticism about the outcome. Asked previously about the likelihood of a continuing resolution, Trump said, “I guess so,” adding that “almost every Republican” is expected to support it.