House Advances Stopgap Funding Measure, but Senate Showdown Looms

redstate.com

On Tuesday night, the House passed a stopgap measure that calls for the funding of the federal government until December 4th. That's after the midterm elections, which means Republicans could avert a pre-election government shutdown, assuming the measure passes the Senate.

But that is not a done deal, of course, considering Democrats would love nothing better than to instigate another shutdown to try and pin on President Trump and congressional Republicans ahead of November:

But the fate of the measure was deeply uncertain, with Democrats opposed and the Senate G.O.P. leader casting doubt on the chances of quick action in his chamber, where legislation needs some degree of bipartisan backing to move.
On a 220-to-205 vote, mostly along party lines, the House approved the kind of emergency temporary spending measure that normally is advanced mere days or hours before federal funding is set to lapse in order to avert a shutdown. But this time, House G.O.P. leaders offered the so-called continuing resolution months in advance of the Sept. 30 deadline, effectively daring Democrats to oppose it.

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04) issued this statement on X earlier in response to the continuing resolution's (CR) passage, and laid out recent history when it comes to Democrat-led shutdowns of the government for attempted political gain:

House Republicans today took the responsible step of passing a clean, short-term continuing resolution to fund our government through the November elections. Sadly, and predictably, 204 House Democrats voted against this measure. Given that Democrats have already forced the two longest government shutdowns in American history this Congress, it’s clear they don’t care what kind of pain they inflict on the American people or the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who would be forced to work without pay.
While time remains until the end of the fiscal year, Republicans are under no illusions about the Democrat Party’s intentions heading into a consequential midterm election. They apparently believe a painful government shutdown would help them politically. We hope they will come to their senses before the government shuts down, but if they don’t, then Democrats alone will own the chaos that results.

Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) didn't sound super-optimistic that the Senate would take action quickly on the CR:

Its path in the Senate is murky at best. Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, told reporters on Tuesday that he would “try” to put a stopgap spending bill to a vote before senators leave Washington for a five-week break beginning in August. But he said it was “possible” it could “get punted” later into September.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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