The House returned to Washington this week following a five-week recess and on Tuesday afternoon passed the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government at current FY 26 levels from October 1 through December 11. The bill was brought to the floor under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass. The vote was 370 to 48, with 29 Democrats and 19 Republicans voting in opposition. The Senate had passed the CR in a 90 to 6 vote on August 8 before it went on recess, and President Trump on Wednesday signed the funding stopgap, ensuring there will not be a government shutdown before the midterm elections.
The CR includes a provision that pauses, through December 11, implementation of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed rule allowing political appointees to participate at all levels of the federal grantmaking process. House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said any final FY 27 funding “agreement must prevent the proposed White House budget rule which would give control over virtually all federal spending to political appointees in the Trump administration from ever taking effect. There is bipartisan support for preventing this policy from coming to fruition, and I am confident we will be able to find a solution.”