Senate Strikes Deal to Fund Government, Averting a Shutdown

The US Senate reached a deal on Thursday to fund the government, avoiding a partial government shutdown ahead of the midterm elections.

Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed to separate the bill “funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from a ‘minibus’ package of five other major funding bills,” according to The Hill.

The Senate will instead propose a stopgap bill known as a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would fund DHS at current levels through February 13.

The two parties had bargained over the duration of the CR, with the Democrats insisting on the two-week version which won.

The Republicans had requested a six-week CR.

Top Republicans would circulate the agreement among their members to see if any amendments would be necessary. The five remaining bills covering the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education are “full-year measures, meaning approximately 96 percent of the government will be funded for fiscal year 2026.”

President Trump celebrated the deal in Truth Social on Thursday evening.

“I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the government, without delay. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to secure funding for the vast majority of government through September, while at the same time providing an expansion to the Department of Homeland Security (including the all-important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before),” he wrote.

“Hopefully, Republicans and Democrats will deliver a much-needed bipartisan ‘YES’ vote,” he added.