Senate Passes FY2027 Stopgap 90-6, But House Version Differs

WASHINGTON, The Senate voted 90 to 6 on Aug. 8 to pass a continuing resolution that would keep the federal government funded through Dec. 11, sending to the House a bill that differs in both its end date and its policy riders from the version the lower chamber already passed.

The two chambers now must resolve those differences before Sept. 30, when current fiscal year 2026 appropriations expire.

The Senate measure is H.R. 6500. The House passed its own stopgap, H.R. 9770, on July 21 by a near party-line vote of 220 to 205, with six Democrats joining Republicans. The House bill runs through Dec. 4, a week earlier than the Senate's date.

According to a press release from the office of Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the Senate bill funds the government through Dec. 11 and gives the Senate Appropriations Committee additional time to complete work on full-year appropriations bills.

The Senate version also carries two provisions absent from the House bill. According to a summary reviewed by the National Association of Counties, the measure temporarily prohibits the Office of Management and Budget from finalizing a rule that would overhaul how federal grants are awarded, administered, and terminated, blocking that rule through Dec. 11. House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said in a statement that the Senate bill also restores language the House had omitted that would preclude the transfer of funds to the Border Patrol without substantial reforms.

Both bills continue funding at current fiscal year 2026 spending levels across all 12 major appropriations divisions.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) framed the House bill in a press release as a move to prevent either party from manufacturing shutdown leverage ahead of November midterm elections. "Too many members in Congress mistake a cliff's edge for political leverage," Cole said in the release.

The Senate has not passed a single full-year FY2027 appropriations bill. According to the House Appropriations Committee, the House has advanced all 12 FY2027 bills through the full committee and passed three on the floor.

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which updated its fiscal deadline tracker on Aug. 12, the House and Senate are now operating from competing CR texts heading into the congressional August recess. The House is expected to take up the Senate-passed version when members return in late August, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

If neither the House-passed bill nor a reconciled version is signed into law before Oct. 1, the federal government would face another funding lapse. Federal employees have experienced three funding lapses in the past 12 months totaling roughly 123 days, including a 76-day partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security that ended April 30, according to FedTools, a federal employee resource site.

The deadline to resolve the competing CRs and avert a shutdown is Sept. 30.

Sources cited:
- Sen. Kevin Cramer press release (cramer.senate.gov) (https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senate-passes-continuing-resolution-to-fund-government-through-mid-december)
- House Appropriations Committee press release on H.R. 9770 (https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-passes-hr-9770-providing-certainty-preventing-disruption-and-advancing)
- Rep. Rosa DeLauro statement (House Appropriations Democrats) (https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/delauro-statement-senate-passage-continuing-resolution)
- National Association of Counties summary (https://www.naco.org/news/senate-passes-bill-fund-government-through-december-11-and-delay-omb-rule)
- NASFAA / Appropriations Status summary (https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/39558/Appropriators_Set_Up_Dueling_Continuing_Resolutions_to_Avert_September_s_Spending_Deadline)
- Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget fiscal deadlines tracker (https://www.crfb.org/blogs/upcoming-congressional-fiscal-policy-deadlines)
- FedTools shutdown tracker (https://www.fedtools.com/blog/government-shutdown-october-2026)
- NPR on House CR vote (https://www.npr.org/2026/07/21/nx-s1-5902245/government-funding-house-vote-continuing-resolution)