The Senate on Monday advanced a short-term spending measure aimed at preventing a government shutdown, clearing a key procedural hurdle with strong bipartisan support.
Senators voted 89-4 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the continuing resolution. The legislation would fund the federal government at roughly current levels through Dec. 11.
The measure has the backing of Republican and Democratic leaders on the Senate Appropriations Committee as well as Senate leadership. It includes a provision temporarily blocking a Trump administration proposal that would give political appointees final authority over scientific grant decisions, a priority for Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and other lawmakers who opposed the policy.
Senate leaders hope to pass the stopgap bill before lawmakers depart for their monthlong August recess at the end of the week. Doing so would require bipartisan agreement to accelerate remaining procedural steps. If approved, the measure would head to the House when that chamber returns in September.
The House passed its own continuing resolution last month. That version funds the government for a shorter period and omits several provisions included in the Senate bill.
If enacted, the continuing resolution would give Congress more time to negotiate full-year appropriations bills for fiscal year 2027. Appropriators remain at an impasse over overall discretionary spending levels. The Senate has not yet brought any of the 12 annual appropriations bills to the floor for final consideration. The House has passed three of its bills, though those measures face expected resistance in the Senate.
Congress has not passed a full annual budget on time since 1996, when it completed work on the fiscal 1997 budget during President Bill Clinton’s first term.
Separately, Senate Republicans are working to advance the SAVE America Act, which contains election security provisions including requirements for proof of citizenship and government-issued identification to vote. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said Republicans are restructuring the bill to move it through the budget reconciliation process, which would allow passage with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes typically needed to overcome a filibuster.
Appearing on Newsmax, Hoeven said the House-passed budget resolution offers a procedural path if the voter identification provisions comply with reconciliation rules and survive review by the Senate parliamentarian. “We’re in session this week, and we’re working on it,” he said. “The key is that we get that passed. We can do that with 51 votes.”
