Susan Collins and Patty Murray announced an appropriations bill continuing resolution on Sunday that would keep the government funded through Dec. 11 and avert a shutdown on Oct. 1. The Senate planned a procedural vote on Monday, with the House still needing to act before funding expires at the end of Sept. 30.
Susan Collins on the CR
Collins, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, called the stopgap bill “straightforward” and said it avoids “poison pills.” She said the measure includes “necessary adjustments” for SNAP, WIC, disaster relief and national security programs, giving Congress more time to work on bipartisan appropriations bills.
“This measure gives Congress the time we need to continue our work on bipartisan appropriations bills, which are always my strong preference for handling annual government funding,” Collins said after the agreement was announced. That leaves the immediate task to the Senate, which aimed to move the bill this week before leaving for its August recess.
Patty Murray on SNAP and WIC
Murray said the agreement fixed issues Democrats had with the House-passed version. She said it “rejects Trump’s frivolous war spending wish list” and closes loopholes for the administration to transfer funds from existing programs to Border Patrol. In her view, the bill also blocks a White House budget office proposal that would allow Trump officials to cancel grants at any time for any reason.
“It’s good that we were able to produce a much-improved CR to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown that no one wants,” Murray said. Her comments point to the practical shift in the Senate draft: it keeps current funding levels in place while also changing several policy riders that had drawn objections.
House Republicans and Dec. 4
The Senate deal was described as bipartisan, but it still had to pass the House, which had already advanced a different funding bill through Dec. 4. That leaves the two chambers with a timing gap to resolve: the Senate plan extends funding to Dec. 11, while the House bill stops a week earlier and would require separate agreement before the later deadline.
Chuck Schumer called the agreement “a responsible path forward,” and said, “I thank Senator Murray for her tireless work on this deal and her success blocking Trump’s disgraceful efforts to further politicize all federal grants.” Rosa DeLauro called the Senate bill “a clear improvement over the House Republican continuing resolution.”
The schedule now turns on whether the Senate can advance the CR on Monday and whether the House will accept the longer extension when it returns in early September. If the chambers do not settle on the same bill, the funding fight keeps moving toward Oct. 1.
