US House passes stopgap funding bill to avert shutdown before midterm elections

The US House of Representatives voted 370 to 48 for a temporary spending measure that will keep the federal government funded through December 11. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature, after clearing the Senate on August 8.

Without the stopgap measure, existing funding would have expired on October 1, when the new fiscal year begins. Congress still has to complete the 12 bills that finance federal programmes, including homeland security, energy, housing and defence, for the fiscal year running through September 30, 2027.

The continuing resolution gives lawmakers more time to negotiate, while removing the immediate threat of a shutdown before the November 3 midterm elections. The elections will determine which party controls each chamber of Congress, potentially shaping the budget talks that follow.

Government shutdowns are widely unpopular in the United States, and political analysts have speculated that a shutdown before an election could hurt sitting lawmakers seeking re-election. “This will give Congress time to get past the November elections,” Republican House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said during the debate.

Republicans hold majorities in both chambers, but Democrats and Republicans have clashed repeatedly since Trump began his second term. Those disputes have produced three shutdowns lasting a combined 161 days. The first, in October 2025, lasted 43 days, the longest shutdown in US history. A partial shutdown followed in January, and a third targeted the Department of Homeland Security after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were shot by immigration agents in Minnesota. Democrats sought to withhold funding from the department while pursuing reforms to agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Critics have said shutdowns do little to advance policy change.

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This will give Congress time to get past the November elections.