Congress Budget

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and GOP leaders meet with reporters as he tries to advance a spending package for the Iran war, farm aid and President Donald Trump's push for strict new voter ID requirements, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 21, 2026.

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House passes temporary government funding bill months early to avoid election season shutdown

House passes temporary government funding bill months early to avoid election season shutdown

The House has moved to head-off a potential government shutdown before this fall’s critical midterm elections. Republicans on Tuesday muscled through a bill to fund the federal government through Dec. 4. The deadline for action is more than two months away. But House GOP leaders are not leaving to chance a possible shutdown souring the mood of voters shortly before they go to the polls. Republicans said work on annual spending bills would continue, but that funding the government temporarily would help lawmakers avoid a repeat of the past year, when the country experienced two government shutdowns of record length. Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the measure, saying Republicans took a go-it-alone approach.