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BLOOMBERG

House votes Sept. 1 on a stopgap that funds the government to Dec. 11, pushing the shutdown deadline past the midterms

Political Guyentist · September 1, 20263 min read

BLOOMBERG

The Senate already passed it; House leaders want it done in a day, moving the next funding cliff five weeks past the Nov. 3 election.

The House returned Monday, Aug. 31, after a five-week recess and prepared to vote Tuesday, Sept. 1, on a stopgap spending bill already passed by the Senate. The measure would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11, 2026, which is 38 days after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Tim Moore (Rep-R North Carolina) said the "votes are there" for passage. Other legislation remains stalled. "The big bills will probably have to wait until after the election," said Morgan Griffith (Rep-R Virginia).

What the Senate loaded onto the stopgap beyond flat fundingExtends federal highway programs and Highway Trust Fund authority — the money that pays for road and bridge projects — to Dec. 11…3 details
  • Extends federal highway programs and Highway Trust Fund authority — the money that pays for road and bridge projects — to Dec. 11 alongside the funding itself
  • Blocks a proposed White House budget-office rule that would give political appointees more say over which federal grants get approved
  • Delays by 30 days a national ban on most intoxicating hemp products that was set to take effect

What we’re less sure of4 of 9 claims

Red take

Flat funding to Dec. 11 gives no agency a raise. It carries highway programs and Highway Trust Fund authority to the same date, so road and bridge work does not stall in September. The fair objection is that all 12 spending bills now land in a lame-duck December. That is a real cost. It is still a smaller cost than a September lapse with no full-year bills ready, and Moore says the "votes are there."

Blue take

Vote for what the Senate attached. Agencies run at existing levels, not new ones. The $1 billion for early battleship work is gone. So is the rule letting political appointees pick which grants clear. The cost is Griffith's own line: "the big bills will probably have to wait until after the election." That means 12 bills crammed into one December package, written by members already heading home. Those wins go back on the table then, with less leverage to keep them.

Related reading

Sen. Kevin Cramer's release sets out what the Senate actually passed — funding to Dec. 11 plus the surface-transportation and Highway Trust Fund extension — which is the text the House is being asked to accept unchanged.