Jennifer Scholtes

Lawmakers are likely to need at least a few more weeks to finalize bill text and pass an assistance package through both chambers.

Ahead of the Dec. 20 deadline, Republican leaders need to decide whether they want to push the cliff into Trump's second term.

The nearly 12-week stopgap will keep federal agencies on autopilot budgets through Dec. 20, setting up a pre-Christmas funding fight.

A government shutdown next week is still unlikely, but the procedural hurdle is another funding challenge for Speaker Mike Johnson.

Passing the stopgap will free lawmakers for a six-week recess heading into Election Day.

The bill would fund the government through mid-December and is expected to get bipartisan support.

A messier battle over veterans funding is likely ahead, as the Biden administration seeks almost $12 billion more.

The funding debate should have been pretty straightforward this time. But the House GOP has its eye on linking a policy proposal that will complicate things.

House Republicans on Friday passed three more spending bills rife with budget cuts and divisive policies, grinding through their mission to clear a dozen of their own funding measures this summer. With little support from Democrats, the House passed measures to fund the Pentagon, along with the departments of State and Homeland Security, after checking off their veterans’ affairs spending bill earlier this month. With that achieved, GOP lawmakers are leaving town for a weeklong recess touting th…

Congress’ nonpartisan budget scorekeeper on Tuesday significantly increased its estimate of the U.S. budget gap, predicting that the nation will run a $2 trillion deficit this year. The latest forecast from the Congressional Budget Office is up from its estimate of $1.6 trillion earlier this year. Four main things are driving that $400 billion increase, CBO said — citing President Joe Biden’s student loan relief policies as the No. 1 cause of the bigger gap between the amount of money flowing in…

The speaker will almost certainly need Democratic votes just to get the package to the floor, and the minority party has not signaled whether it will support him.

Live updates and analysis from POLITICO’s Congress team

“Pushing it off past next Friday is reckless, and I’ve made that clear,” the GOP Armed Services chair said. More delays are likely.

The upper chamber now needs agreement from all 100 senators to pass the stopgap before the deadline.

They have been kicking around the idea of punting to March 22 on any funding bills that aren’t close to ready.

On a private call Friday night, the speaker briefed House Republicans on his negotiating position headed into a weekend of intense funding talks.

The House is expected to clear the bill as soon as Thursday night.

While the White House defers to Hawaii on a formal probe, Congress holds the key to forcing scrutiny from the feds.

The goal is for there to be a passage vote Wednesday.

At the same time, inflation is likely to persist throughout the year and then ease as economic growth slows, says Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper.