Senate Passes FY2027 Stopgap 90-6, Sending Shutdown Fight to House

WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted 90-6 early Saturday to pass a stopgap spending bill that would keep the federal government funded through Dec. 11, averting a potential shutdown at the start of fiscal year 2027 and pushing the next budget deadline past the November midterm elections.

The measure now goes to the House, which passed its own continuing resolution on July 21 with a Dec. 4 end date. The two chambers must reconcile the difference before current funding expires Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Research Service's appropriations status table reviewed by Congress.gov.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Vice Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced the bipartisan deal Sunday before the vote, according to NBC News. Collins released the bill text along with a section-by-section summary, according to a Brownstein client alert dated Aug. 8.

The Senate CR funds all 12 major appropriations divisions at fiscal year 2026 levels, according to the National Association of Counties. It also temporarily blocks an Office of Management and Budget rule that would overhaul how federal grants are administered, freezing that rule through Dec. 11, according to the NACo summary.

House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement the Senate measure "makes important progress" because it delays the OMB rule and restores language blocking fund transfers to Border Patrol absent reforms -- provisions absent from the House-passed version.

The final vote was complicated by internal Republican disagreements. According to The Hill, the Senate spent most of Thursday and Friday deadlocked over a separate bill on college athlete compensation rules before Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., secured the early-morning vote. A White House provision that would have delayed a ban on hemp-derived THC products also held up proceedings before being stripped out, The Hill reported.

Voting no were 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. Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., voted present.

The House passed its July 21 CR 220-205, with six Democrats joining Republicans, according to NPR. That version runs through Dec. 4 and does not include the technical provisions -- known as anomalies -- that the Senate bill contains, according to the Association of Educational Service Agencies.

The House is expected to take up the Senate version when it returns Aug. 31, according to the AESA update. The White House has signaled support for the Senate measure, the AESA reported.

One unresolved complication is public transit and passenger rail funding. The Senate CR extends Highway Trust Fund programs at FY2026 levels but does not continue advance appropriations, which currently provide $4.25 billion annually for transit and $13.2 billion for passenger rail, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Without those advance appropriations, overall federal transit investment would fall 20 percent under the CR, and passenger rail funding would drop 83 percent, APTA said.

Congress has not enacted all 12 annual appropriations bills by Oct. 1 since fiscal year 1997, according to FedTools. Federal workers have already gone through three funding lapses totaling 123 days in the past 12 months, including a 76-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown that ended April 30, FedTools reported.

Once the House acts, any final full-year spending package will still need 60 Senate votes, requiring bipartisan support, according to the AESA. Disagreements between Senate appropriations leaders have stalled that process for FY2027, the AESA said.

Sources cited:
- NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-leaders-reach-deal-avert-shutdown-2026-elections-rcna590564)
- The Hill (https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/6018009-senate-government-funding-bill/)
- NPR (https://www.npr.org/2026/07/21/nx-s1-5902245/government-funding-house-vote-continuing-resolution)
- National Association of Counties (https://www.naco.org/news/senate-passes-bill-fund-government-through-december-11-and-delay-omb-rule)
- House Appropriations Committee (DeLauro statement) (https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/delauro-statement-senate-passage-continuing-resolution)
- Association of Educational Service Agencies (https://www.aesa.us/2026/08/13/fy2027-appropriations-update/)
- American Public Transportation Association (https://aptapassengertransport.com/senate-appropriations-committee-leaders-unveil-continuing-resolution/)
- Congress.gov Appropriations Status Table (https://www.congress.gov/crs-appropriations-status-table)
- FedTools (https://www.fedtools.com/blog/government-shutdown-october-2026)
- Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (https://www.bhfs.com/insight/cr-and-far-between-can-the-house-and-senate-find-a-funding-solution/)