House to vote on two more govt funding bills costing $76 billion

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(The Center Square) – As a potential Jan. 30 government shutdown looms, the U.S. House plans to vote this week on the next batch of appropriations bills funding the federal government in fiscal year 2026.

The House Rules Committee will mark up Tuesday a two-bill minibus appropriating $50 billion for national security-related activities, and $26.5 billion for financial and general government services. 

If the minibus becomes law, the departments of State and Treasury, the IRS, the Executive and Judiciary branches, and related agencies will be fully funded until October.

Senate and House appropriators in both parties made compromises in the legislation, including Democrats accepting a 16% funding cut in the national security bill and Republicans allowing for more foreign aid funding than President Donald Trump wanted.

“These were tough negotiations under extremely challenging circumstances, and while I strongly disagree with some of the difficult spending decisions that were ultimately made, there is no doubt in my mind that this bipartisan compromise is a significantly better outcome than another yearlong continuing resolution,” Senate appropriator Patty Murray, D-Wash., said.

Out of the 12 fiscal year appropriations bills, so far only three have been signed into law, providing money for Veterans Affairs, military construction, the Department of Agriculture and rural development, and the Legislative branch. 

Three more funding bills passed the House last week in the form of a three-bill minibus, granting appropriations for the departments of Commerce; Justice; Energy; Interior; and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others.

The Senate will begin votes to advance that legislation Monday, though if any amendments are adopted, it must go back to the lower chamber for final approval. 

Congress has only three weeks to finish the remaining nine bills, some of which lawmakers are still hotly debating, like the Labor and Health and Human Services bill. It is likely that they will fail to pass all twelve on time, meaning either the government will shut down or Congress will pass yet another funding stopgap to cover the remaining agencies.