Senate Passes Bipartisan CR to Fund Government Through Dec. 11, Sending Bill to House

WASHINGTON, The Senate passed a bipartisan continuing resolution on Aug. 8 to keep the federal government funded through Dec. 11, sending the measure to the House of Representatives with roughly seven weeks left before current spending authority expires.

According to a press release from Sen. Kevin Cramer's office, the chamber approved the stopgap bill by a vote of 90 to 6, with the aim of averting a potential shutdown and giving the Senate Appropriations Committee more time to complete work on full-year fiscal year 2027 spending bills.

The bill extends government funding at fiscal year 2026 levels across all twelve major appropriations divisions, according to the National Association of Counties, which reviewed the measure. It also includes a series of targeted funding allocations, rescissions, and program-specific provisions.

Two contested policy riders attached during negotiations drew attention on both sides of the aisle. The Hill reported that the measure halts a White House Office of Management and Budget rule that would give political appointees in the executive branch more authority over dispersing federal grants, blocking it until Dec. 11. The bill also restores language, stripped from a House-passed version, that limits transfers of funds to the Border Patrol absent substantial reforms.

House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement reviewed by the House Appropriations Committee Democrats' office that the Senate CR "makes important progress" but cautioned that "there are still nearly two months before the end of the fiscal year."

Sen. Cramer, R-N.D., took a sharper tone. "Democrats have made it clear their distaste of President Trump is greater than their willingness to do their job and pass a full appropriations bill for the year," he said in his office's release.

The Senate's version differs from the House-passed continuing resolution, which would extend funding only through Dec. 4. According to NPR, the House voted 220-205 in July to advance its own stopgap, with six Democrats joining Republicans. The Senate's amended text now heads back to the House, which is expected to return from its August recess in late August.

Transit advocates flagged a separate concern embedded in the Senate CR. The American Public Transportation Association noted that the measure extends Highway Trust Fund contract authority at FY 2026 levels but does not continue advance appropriations, which currently provide $4.25 billion annually for public transit. Without those advance appropriations, the group said, the CR cuts overall federal public transit investment by 20 percent from current levels, with passenger rail investment cut by 83 percent.

The Senate CR was released Sunday by Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Vice Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., according to a Brownstein client alert dated Aug. 8. The deal came after days of internal Republican negotiations over a White House-backed provision that would have delayed a ban on hemp-derived THC products, which was ultimately dropped from the bill.

Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. voted against the measure, according to The Hill. Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., voted present.

The Library of Congress appropriations status table, updated Aug. 10, shows the Senate-amended bill as H.R. 6500, extending funding through Dec. 11, 2026. The House must act on the measure before Sept. 30 to avoid a shutdown.

Sources cited:
- Sen. Kevin Cramer press release (https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senate-passes-continuing-resolution-to-fund-government-through-mid-december)
- National Association of Counties (https://www.naco.org/news/senate-passes-bill-fund-government-through-december-11-and-delay-omb-rule)
- The Hill (https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/6018009-senate-government-funding-bill/)
- House Appropriations Committee Democrats (DeLauro statement) (https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/delauro-statement-senate-passage-continuing-resolution)
- NPR (https://www.npr.org/2026/07/21/nx-s1-5902245/government-funding-house-vote-continuing-resolution)
- American Public Transportation Association (Passenger Transport) (https://aptapassengertransport.com/senate-appropriations-committee-leaders-unveil-continuing-resolution/)
- Brownstein client alert (https://www.bhfs.com/insight/cr-and-far-between-can-the-house-and-senate-find-a-funding-solution/)
- Congress.gov Appropriations Status Table (https://www.congress.gov/crs-appropriations-status-table)