Republicans Preemptively Avoid Midterm Government Shutdown

• September 3, 2026

President Trump in a navy suit and purple tie sits at a desk, speaking. Flags and decorative items are visible in the blurred background.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed a bill to effectively fund the government through the midterm elections, avoiding the September deadline and a possible government shutdown. Now, members can hit the campaign trail without an Election Day shutdown looming, moving their deadline to fund the government for fiscal year 2027 to December.

The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, signed by Trump Wednesday evening, extends already approved government funding until Dec. 11. The clean continuing resolution passed both chambers of Congress with massive bipartisan support, 90-6 in the Senate and 370-48 in the House.

“Responsible governance means putting the well-being and stability of the nation first, and this legislation does just that. It protects our national security, preserves critical services, and denies partisan shutdown agitators the leverage they have repeatedly sought,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said.

“The bill is simple by design, no poison pills, no divisive wish lists, and no political gimmicks. Just a clean, straightforward measure that keeps the government working, provides more time to address full-year bills, and trades the familiar cycle of Senate Democrat brinkmanship for something far more useful: certainty,” he continued.

Congress has made a habit of missing the Sept. 30 deadline to pass its annual appropriations packages, ultimately leading to a government shutdown. The last shutdown, in 2025, was deadlocked by congressional Democrats for a record-breaking 43 days while they attempted to reinstate subsidies in the Affordable Care Act.

The House Appropriations Committee has successfully passed all 12 fiscal year 2027 bills out of committee, and they are ready to be voted on by the full House. The lower chamber has also passed three fiscal year 2027 appropriations bills: Agriculture and FDA; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; and National Security and State Department.

“What I want to see in the interim is us continue to move the appropriations bills off the House floor,” Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told The Daily Signal ahead of the vote.

However, the Senate Appropriations Committee stands deadlocked by Democrats and has not finalized a single bill.

While Congress now has an extension until Dec. 11, this may have only postponed a shutdown. If the fiscal year 2027 budget is not passed by then, December could bring a government shutdown along with the holidays.

Virginia Grace McKinnon | Journalism Fellow

Virginia Grace McKinnon is a journalism fellow for the Daily Signal.

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