Congress advances key spending bills in race against shutdown deadline

A rare bipartisan win funds critical agencies, but the clock is ticking. Will Congress beat the deadline—or force another temporary fix to avoid chaos?

, and Administrator

2026 January 18 . 4:38 AM

1 min read

The image shows a white background with a pie chart depicting the funding overview for the National... — The image shows a white background with a pie chart depicting the funding overview for the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2006. The chart is divided into sections, each representing a different amount of funding, and the text accompanying the chart provides further details about the funding.

Congress advances key spending bills in race against shutdown deadline

Congress has moved closer to finalising key spending bills after the House passed a three-bill minibus package. The legislation covers funding for multiple departments, including Justice, Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Both parties secured wins, with Democrats pushing scientific research funding and Republicans boosting drug enforcement budgets.

The newly approved minibus allocates $37 billion to the Department of Justice and $63 billion for water and energy infrastructure. It also directs $8.8 billion to the EPA and $25 billion to the National Nuclear Safety Administration. Lawmakers from both sides negotiated concessions to advance the package.

The Senate must now pass this measure—and another House-approved minibus—before the end of the week. If successful, eight of the 12 annual appropriations bills will be complete. The remaining four are expected to be grouped into a separate minibus, though no official has been named to assemble them. With the Jan. 30 deadline approaching, Congress is unlikely to finish all spending bills on time. A temporary funding extension is anticipated to prevent a government shutdown while negotiations continue.

The passage of the minibus marks progress in the budget process, but time is running short. Lawmakers will need to act quickly to avoid disruptions, either by finalising the remaining bills or approving a stopgap measure. The outcome will determine whether federal agencies face funding gaps in the coming weeks.