Government Shutdown Avoided? Here's What to Know

Senate Appropriations Cmte. Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) announced Sunday that a bipartisan deal was reached in the upper chamber to temporarily fund the government through December 11 via a Continuing Resolution (CR).

The bill will have to pass through the Senate and House before it heads to President Donald Trump’s desk. 

“This CR is straightforward,” Collins said in a Sunday statement. 

“It continues current government funding levels until December 11th and includes necessary adjustments for programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), vital national security programs, including shipbuilding across multiple vessels, and the Disaster Relief Fund,” she continued, adding that it “also avoids any poison pills.”

The CR proposal was also well-received by Democrats, including Cmte. Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) wrote in a statement that the “bill includes important extensions and language that House Republicans’ CR did not, and it rejects Trump’s frivolous war spending wish list.” 

“Importantly, we closed the loophole in House Republicans’ CR that would have allowed the Trump administration to transfer funding provided for other programs to Border Patrol, which desperately needs reform, not more money,” she added.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) touted the passage of a Republican-backed CR last month, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said the best course for success would be to work with Democrats in the Senate as well. The House proposal would have also funded the government through early December, and it's unclear if a bipartisan Senate CR will get pushback in the lower chamber.

“House and Senate Rs are on the same page on govt funding – on length, desire for clean CR, & motivation to complete our work before the deadline. It’s simply a matter of adding the anomalies that the WH has requested. Bipartisan effort underway to accomplish all of these things,” Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse posted to X on July 22.

House and Senate Rs are on the same page on govt funding – on length, desire for clean CR, & motivation to complete our work before the deadline. It’s simply a matter of adding the anomalies that the WH has requested. Bipartisan effort underway to accomplish all of these things. https://t.co/vcHQNZ7x76

— Ryan Wrasse (@RWrasse) July 22, 2026

The government will shut down on Sept. 30 if a spending plan does not land on Trump’s desk in time.

“The White House's stance is that the government needs to be funded. This president and Republicans on Capitol Hill from both chambers, as you just mentioned, the House and the Senate Republicans want to keep the government open,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Townhall on July 23. 

There was a 43-day government shutdown last fall, followed by months-long Department of Homeland Security shutdown, this spring.

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