The House approved a two-bill funding package for the Treasury and State departments, clearing one hurdle in the appropriations process while leaving Homeland Security funding and a few contentious riders out of this round, and lawmakers are racing to finish the remaining bills before a month-end deadline.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House passed a pair of appropriations measures covering the State Department and several national security accounts plus funding for Treasury, the IRS and related financial programs. The vote was decisive: 341-79 in favor, and the package now heads to the Senate for consideration. This action moves some funding forward but leaves significant work for lawmakers as the end of the month approaches. Lawmakers emphasized that bipartisan talks smoothed the path to the lopsided result.
House lawmakers in both parties joined forces on Wednesday to pass a two-bill spending package to fund large parts of the federal government, marking the latest victory for bipartisan leaders racing to prevent a shutdown at month’s end.
The lopsided, 341-79 vote reflected the delicate bipartisan talks that produced the package, brought party leaders on board and eased many of the concerns of rank-and-file members on both sides.
The legislation — which combines funding for the State Department and certain national security programs with money for the Treasury Department, the IRS and other financial services programs — now moves to the Senate, which is expected to consider it, along with other spending bills, next week.
Homeland Security funding was originally planned to be bundled into this minibus, but controversies surrounding a recent shooting in Minneapolis altered the calculation. House Democrats pushed to add tougher rules for immigration officers after that incident, a demand that prompted GOP leaders to strip DHS out of this package to avoid a breakdown. The expectation is that DHS funding and related immigration provisions will be negotiated separately and potentially attached to a final spending package next week.
Appropriators had initially intended the package to included funding for the Department of Homeland Security, as well. But last week’s fatal shooting of an unarmed woman in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer has prompted Democrats to demand tougher rules for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers as part of the DHS bill.
That demand, in turn, forced GOP leaders to remove the DHS bill from Wednesday’s minibus, with hopes of attaching it to a fourth and final spending package expected to hit the floor next week.
Members also cut a controversial judicial funding provision from this package that would have stripped salary and expense allocations for Judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman and reduced funding for D.C. courts. That measure would likely appeal to the administration but was removed to keep the minibus focused and broadly acceptable. Legislators said trimming those riders helped bring more members on board for a smooth floor vote. The move kept the package narrowly tailored to core Treasury and State functions.
At the time of this vote, Congress had passed 3 of 12 appropriations bills for the fiscal year, leaving nine to be completed before the January 30 deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown. Four bills have already cleared both chambers and been signed into law: FY2026 Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture (H.R. 4121 / S. 2256), Legislative Branch (H.R. 4249 / S. 2257), and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs as amended by the Senate and folded into a three-bill consolidated appropriations act (H.R. 3944). Those enacted measures cover specific, high-priority areas but still leave most of the government’s funding unresolved.
The math is simple and unforgiving: several more appropriations must clear Congress quickly if federal operations are to stay fully funded. House leaders stressed that bipartisan compromise made this vote possible and argued that pragmatic deals will be needed on remaining bills. Senators are expected to take up this and other minibus measures next week, where more negotiations will determine final language and any additional riders.
Votes like this are a reminder that Congress can move when pressure is high and leaders on both sides choose compromise over confrontation. Still, key fights remain, especially over DHS rules and immigration oversight, which could reshape the makeup of the final spending packages. With the calendar working against them, lawmakers will have to keep negotiating to finish the job on time.
The House Appropriations Committee’s Republican members took to X to
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