When Congress returns to Washington next month, lawmakers will have just four weeks to work on averting another government shutdown before the next funding deadline arises at the end of January.
In a deal to reopen the government after the longest shutdown in U.S. history in November, Congress passed three full-year spending bills to fund agricultural programs, such as SNAP food aid, military construction and veterans programs. But the rest of the government funding is set to run dry Jan. 30.
Before the holiday break, the Senate failed to vote on a five-bill spending package that would fund multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Commerce.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., a member of the Appropriations Committee that allocates federal dollars, had been pushing for senators to hold a vote on the package of spending bills last Thursday.
“January 30th is going to be here before we blink,” Britt told Alabama Daily News before the chamber left town. “So for me, getting these done before we leave is imperative.”
But on Thursday night, Colorado’s two Democratic senators said they would hold up moving forward on the appropriations package in an effort to restore funding for the National Center for Atmospheric Research, based in Boulder. The Trump administration announced last week its plan to dismantle the research lab.
Next month, Congress will also still have to contend with addressing the high costs of health care after leaving for the year with no agreement on extending the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies or addressing the cliff in another manner. The House is set to vote on the Democratic discharge petition to extend the subsidies for three years when lawmakers are back in session.
The health care debate, along with the funding discussions, could make it more difficult for lawmakers to reach the Jan. 30 deadline, Britt said.
During the weekend, the top Republican appropriators in the House and Senate reached a deal on topline numbers for the remaining spending bills for fiscal year 2026. The total numbers have not been released publicly.
The total spending in the bills is expected to be below current levels, according to the House Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, an appropriations cardinal, told Alabama Daily News before the holiday recess that when Congress returns, he thinks that lawmakers will have a “big appetite” to move the remaining bills through both chambers.
“The only thing that I think that would hinder it is if we just cannot come to an agreement with our numbers on the Senate side,” Aderholt said last week before the top Republican appropriators announced agreements on the total numbers for the remaining bills.
Aderholt oversees funding for the Health and Human Services, Education and Labor departments. That bill is one that still needs to advance before the end of January. But he’s optimistic that lawmakers will be able to meet the deadline.
“So at this point I wouldn’t count out getting at least maybe all of them done, but at least most of them done before the 30th,” Aderholt, R-Haleyville, told ADN before the recess.
Last Thursday, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, warned about the potential of another government shutdown if Republicans don’t come up with a plan to meet the upcoming deadline.
“We need our Republican colleagues to get to work,” DeLauro said in a social media video.
“We cannot do it without them,” she added, referring to passing the remaining spending bills next month.
The Senate will reconvene for two weeks starting Jan. 5, with a week off following MLK Day. The upper chamber will return to Washington for the last week of January. The House is scheduled to be in for three weeks in January, beginning on the 6th, and is set to be out of session the week of the funding deadline.