Congress’ year-end funding deal ‘not quite there’ ahead of Friday shutdown cliff

Top lawmakers were still negotiating the final details Monday night of a stopgap spending patch tied to a slew of other last-ditch priorities as Friday’s federal government shutdown deadline grows closer.

Negotiations between Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and their leadership counterparts are facing time pressure as they work to lock in a deal on a funding patch that’s expected to carry several other major bills, in Congress’ last action before lawmakers are scheduled to leave for the holidays. While negotiations on the funding patch itself are resolved, disputes continue over agriculture aid and other potential add-ons, as leaders look to attach year-end priorities like extending expiring health programs and a bill to restrict U.S. investment in China.

“We’re not quite there,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Monday evening. “Hopefully we’ll get it done, because I think everybody wants to get out of here on time. That’s the best thing working for us is time.”

Hopes that a permitting deal could hitch a ride on the spending deal collapsed earlier Monday.

“Until the deal is final, you can't say for sure, because one change might restart certain negotiations,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Monday night.

Johnson said he is “intent” on giving lawmakers 72 hours to review final text of the bill, which is expected to punt the funding deadline into March, allowing the incoming Trump administration to weigh in on negotiations for the fiscal year at hand. Giving lawmakers three full days to review bill text would push House action to Thursday, at the earliest, risking at least a brief funding lapse at midnight Friday if Senate leaders can’t secure a time agreement for fast-tracked passage.

“Stay tuned,” Johnson said, hours after he suggested the bill would be released hours before. “I think we are very close to the drafting process right now,” he told reporters Monday night.

Hill leaders have tentatively secured a compromise on major pieces of a one-year extension of the farm bill, according to three people familiar with the talks. Disputes over those policies snagged negotiations over the weekend, and last-minute jockeying continued Monday night. But the plans so far include an additional $10 billion in economic aid for farmers, as sought by lawmakers from agriculture-heavy districts, among other items.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations panel, said she didn’t know exactly when text would be out, “but like Christmas, it’s coming.”

“In this business — and you’ve heard this over and over again — nothing is agreed to until it is all agreed to. And that’s where we are now," DeLauro said. "Getting to the final push here to get it all done."

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations panel, is holding out hope for swift action.

“I really want there to be a final agreement,” Collins told reporters, “and to get it posted tonight so that we avoid a government shutdown.”

Jasper Goodman and Eleanor Muller contributed to this report.

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