This week is shaping up to be a bust in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein situation has frozen the chamber. Much more on this below.
For now, we’re going to talk about another mess Republicans have on their hands – FY2026 government funding.
With the August recess around the corner, the appropriations process is badly behind schedule. The House has approved a paltry two spending bills, both on a mostly party-line vote. By this time in 2024, the House had cleared five bills.
The Senate is spending all of this week — maybe longer — passing the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill. It’s usually one of the easiest of the 12 annual spending packages, but there’s no guarantee it’ll pass this year. The first procedural vote is today.
GOP congressional leaders and the White House made the decision early this year to focus on reconciliation and One Big Beautiful Bill. This took all their time and attention through July 4, pushing appropriations to the back burner.
Then Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune pivoted to passing a $9 billion rescissions package despite Democratic warnings that this could sink any potential spending deal. Republicans went ahead anyway, and the White House promised more rescissions packages to come, further angering Democrats.
So now, with just 70 days until government agencies run out of money, a CR is pretty much guaranteed. A shutdown is a real possibility, although no one wants to take the blame for causing it.
The leaders. The Republican leadership has no choice but to be optimistic in these types of situations. But their demeanor is telling.
Johnson, who came into the speakership saying he wouldn’t govern by CRs, said he’s “optimistic” because the House Appropriations Committee will have passed 10 of the 12 bills by the end of this week.
But when we reminded him that only two were approved by the full House heading into the August recess, Johnson downplayed it.
“Everyone is still in a good favorable mood about it,” Johnson said, before saying, “I’ll take that.”
Thune — who promised to put funding bills on the floor during his leadership race last year — acknowledged Monday that passing all 12 bills as the basis for a government funding deal probably isn’t going to happen.
“It’d be great if we could. But it would take a high level of cooperation. So we’ll see,” Thune told us.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, hammered by his party after supporting a CR deal in March, isn’t showing his hand yet. He hit Thune on Monday for touting bipartisanship while jamming through the rescissions package over Democratic objections.
“The Republican leader is talking a bit out of both sides of his mouth,” Schumer said. “[Thune’s] words and his actions are a complete contradiction. He can’t have it both ways.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has it easy. Nearly all his members will vote no on everything.
Schumer and Jeffries will huddle today with appropriations expected to be a key topic, Democratic sources said.
The appropriators. There may be no more prideful group in Congress than appropriators. Traditionally, their self worth is tied up in passing the 12 annual bills. But that “good and favorable” mood that Johnson referred to isn’t evident.
“We’re on the clock, so we have a little clock problem, a calendar problem,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who chairs the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus and the cardinal on the Agriculture subcommittee, said he would be fine with a year-long CR, although he also wants earmarks for his own projects. CR’s traditionally don’t have those.
“I have no problem with a year-long CR,” Harris said, uttering words that would make an old-school appropriator shudder. “It keeps spending at current levels, it doesn’t increase spending.” Of course, those spending levels were put in place under former President Joe Biden.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said his panel is “moving a lot of product” even though they “lost a week” of time in session.
The Senate. Today is an important test of Democrats’ appetite for cooperation with Republicans in the spending wars. Thanks to the filibuster, Republicans need Democratic help to pass anything.
Democrats will discuss potential strategies during their caucus lunch. Some Democrats believe it’s a mistake to block a popular bill that benefits veterans and service members. Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democratic appropriator, told us she expects to support the procedural vote.
The MilCon-VA bill cleared the committee with bipartisan support, 26-3. But if Democrats vote no — either today or later in the process — it could foreshadow a shutdown.
“I want to pass strong bipartisan bills to provide the basis for negotiations with the House,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), an appropriator. “But a lot of trust has been lost through the rescissions process.”
Some Republicans agree. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), an appropriator, acknowledged Democrats’ concerns about trust. But he said a CR would be a worse outcome because it gives even more latitude to the White House.
“Are [Democrats] willing to give up an appropriations process as a protest knowing full well that a continuing resolution works to the advantage of an administration because there’s less congressional input available?” Rounds said.
We have a new House Homeland Security chair. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) bested Reps. Clay Higgins (R-La.), Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) and Michael Guest (R-Miss.) to win the nod of the House Republican Steering Committee to be the next Homeland Security chair.
