Congressional leaders and appropriators are taking a major step this week toward averting a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, but there’s a ton of work left to do.
House and Senate appropriators released a bipartisan funding deal Monday for the FY2026 Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior and Energy and Water spending bills. The three-bill funding package is on track for passage over the next few weeks, with initial House action expected later this week.
The package largely rejects major spending cuts the White House had sought and doesn’t include provisions that would have led to partisan blowups.
The nearly $180 billion package was backed by Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and the top Democratic appropriators, Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.).
Even House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said in a statement that while he’s still going through the minibus, it’s “a good first step to actually lowering spending next year to control our runaway federal debt.”
What’s in, what’s out. Let’s break down the minibus.
— The Kennedy Center. The Interior bill doesn’t use the “Trump Kennedy Center” name, instead still referring to the memorial as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. House appropriators had also sought a provision naming the opera house after First Lady Melania Trump, but that didn’t make it into the final bill.
— Epstein records. Senate appropriators had approved an amendment from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on the CJS bill that would have required the Justice Department to retain records related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and submit a report to Congress. Appropriators had agreed to the measure unanimously, but it was ultimately left out of the legislation.
— Rejecting Trump’s spending cuts. House Democrats said the appropriations bills leave aside roughly $163 billion in proposed cuts from the Trump administration. Instead, the bills stave off drastic spending reductions for climate research, the EPA and NASA.
— Protecting the power of the purse. The appropriations bills included directives that detail how the administration must spend the funds. While that language is often included in funding bills, Democrats noted that the CR gave more leeway to OMB.
What’s next? The minibus heads to the House Rules Committee tonight. The House will vote on the package on Thursday.
Negotiators are still working on the six remaining funding bills that must get done by Jan. 30. Some of those bills may require a short-term or long-term CR.
