RismadarVoice Reporters
August 3, 2026
US Senate leaders have reached a bipartisan agreement to keep the federal government funded beyond the 2026 midterm elections, in a move aimed at preventing a politically sensitive government shutdown in October.
The agreement, reached by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, and the committee’s Vice Chair, Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington, would extend government funding until December 11.
Current funding is due to expire on September 30. Without congressional action, the federal government would shut down on October 1.
The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on the continuing resolution on Monday, with lawmakers seeking to pass the measure before leaving Washington for the August recess.
The temporary funding measure would give Congress additional time to negotiate full-year appropriations after the November midterm elections, which are expected to influence the shape of the next federal budget.
However, the agreement still faces challenges in the House of Representatives, which has already begun its August recess and is not scheduled to return until early September.
House Republicans previously approved a separate funding measure that would keep the government operating through December 4, meaning both chambers will have to resolve differences between their respective proposals.
Collins described the Senate agreement as a straightforward measure without controversial provisions, while saying it includes adjustments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, disaster relief and national security programmes.
She said the measure would provide Congress with more time to work on bipartisan annual appropriations bills, which she described as her preferred approach to government funding.
Murray said the Senate version addressed concerns Democrats had raised over the House proposal.
She accused the Trump administration of seeking to increase spending on what she described as unnecessary military programmes and said the agreement would limit the administration’s ability to redirect funds to border enforcement.
Murray also said the bill would prevent implementation of a proposal that could allow federal officials to cancel grants at their discretion.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer backed the agreement, describing it as a responsible way to keep the government operating while preventing what he called efforts by the Trump administration to politicise federal grants.
The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Rosa DeLauro, also welcomed the Senate proposal, describing it as an improvement over the funding measure previously approved by House Republicans.
Report as it that the agreement now faces the next major test in the Senate before it can proceed to the House, where lawmakers will have to reconcile the competing funding proposals before the September 30 deadline.
