The Senate moved closer to a ‘minibus’ deal to massively fund the government, averting the threat of a shutdown

Senate leaders are close to a deal to pass a package of five appropriations bills that would fund most of the federal government through fiscal 2026, with the potential to avert a massive government shutdown threat as early as next year.

Senators awaited a deal Thursday afternoon to set up votes on a series of amendments to the so-called minibuses that fund the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Commerce, Justice, Interior, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.

Senators on the Appropriations Committee estimate that if the five-bill package becomes law, it would fund about 85% to 90% of the federal government and eliminate the threat of a government shutdown in February.

The House must agree to the package, as does President Trump.

Most governments will close on February 1 without a new funding bill.

Trump signed a separate deal last month that funded the military buildup, veterans affairs, agriculture department and the legislative branch through Sept. 30, 2026. That bill would also cover the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a major issue in the fall shutdown.

If the House approves the Senate minibus, which is by no means certain, that means only Homeland Security, state, foreign-operated energy and water projects, and financial services will face funding deadlines of Jan. 30.

A senator involved in negotiating a vote on the amendment to the bill said Republicans had settled on a list of eight amendments they wanted to consider before the package came to a final vote. Sources said most of those GOP amendments could be decided by a five-vote vote.

A group of Democratic and Republican senators gathered on the Senate floor Wednesday evening to negotiate a path to passing the package before senators adjourned for the year on Thursday.

Democrats were demanding a vote Wednesday night on the 40-point list of unnecessary amendments.

By Thursday afternoon, Democrats had whittled their list of amendments down to 15, according to a Senate source familiar with the state of play.

Republicans still need to agree to schedule votes on Democratic priorities, some of which could be controversial.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (DN.M.) has pushed an amendment to strip senators of their right to sue the Justice Department as targets in an investigation into trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a Senate aide familiar with behind-the-scenes developments.

Legislation allowing a group of eight GOP senators to sue the Justice Department was included in a bill to reopen the federal government last month after a 43-day shutdown.

That shutdown was largely over the issue of ending enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Democrats had called for those subsidies, which expire at the end of the year, to be extended.

The shutdown ended after a group of Democratic senators agreed to reopen the government without an extension of those subsidies.

On Wednesday, four Republicans in the House joined a Democratic discharge petition to force the chamber to vote on legislation to extend those subsidies for three years. Republicans signed the discharge petition after their own party leaders refused to allow them to vote on amendments supporting the extension of subsidies.

In the Senate, lawmakers last week rejected competing efforts by Democrats and Republicans on health care. Four GOP senators joined a Democratic bill to expand health care subsidies.

A House bill to extend those subsidies for three years now appears to have the support to pass the House in January. But it is uncertain whether it will vote to pass the Senate.

On the GOP side, Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) pushed for an amendment to remove earmarks from the minibus bill.

He also favors an amendment to remove language from the Interior Department appropriations bill that would require the federal government to continue to manage national parks as federal lands.

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