With the dust barely settled from the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown that stretched from October into mid-November 2025, Congress is once again racing against the clock. Lawmakers returned to Washington this week with the urgent task of averting another government shutdown, as federal funding for much of the government is set to expire on January 30, 2026. The stakes are high, the timeline is tight, and the political landscape remains as fractious as ever.
The last shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, left millions of Americans without pay and forced the suspension of numerous federal programs. According to Politico, the compromise that finally ended the impasse in November included a package of three spending bills, signed into law on November 12, 2025. This deal ensured full-year funding for military construction projects, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, and the Legislative Branch, securing their operations through September 30, 2026. However, the rest of the government has been running on a temporary fix—a continuing resolution set to expire at the end of January.
Why did Congress set the next funding deadline so soon? As reported by The Connecticut Mirror, it was part of a bipartisan agreement to reopen the government, but it left nine out of twelve full-year spending bills unresolved. Now, Congress faces a choice: pass the remaining nine bills to fund the rest of the government through the fiscal year or approve yet another short-term measure, known as a continuing resolution, to buy more time.
Negotiations have been ongoing since before the holiday recess, with top appropriators from both parties working to hammer out a deal. House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole and ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro have emerged as key figures in these talks, as highlighted by Axios. Just before Christmas, Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Cole announced an agreement on top-line spending numbers for the outstanding bills. Cole stated, “This pathway forward aligns with President Trump’s clear direction to rein in runaway, beltway-driven spending.” He added that the proposed funding falls below current levels, reflecting the administration’s push for fiscal restraint.
On January 5, 2026, Congress made its first concrete move to avoid the looming shutdown, releasing the text of an initial package—referred to as a "minibus"—that would provide funding for science, the Departments of Commerce and Justice, energy and water development, and the Department of the Interior and the EPA. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, emphasized the importance of congressional control over spending, saying, “Passing these bills will help ensure that Congress, not President Trump and Russ Vought, decides how taxpayer dollars are spent—by once again providing hundreds of detailed spending directives and reasserting congressional control over these incredibly important spending decisions.”
Yet, the path forward is anything but clear. Buy-in from Democrats is essential in the Senate, where a 60-vote threshold is needed to overcome a filibuster, and may also be necessary in the House if conservative Republicans withhold their support. House Speaker Mike Johnson is juggling a shrinking majority, especially after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s early retirement left him with just a two-vote margin. As CBS News notes, delays have already occurred due to Democratic senators from Colorado holding up a previous minibus over concerns about federal research funding in their state.
Should negotiations stall, leaders may once again resort to a short-term continuing resolution—an outcome that, while keeping the government open, would continue the cycle of uncertainty and delay progress on local projects and earmarks. For states like Connecticut, this uncertainty is especially pressing. As reported by The Connecticut Mirror, the state’s congressional delegation secured some earmarks in the November funding bills, but tens of millions of dollars for other initiatives remain in limbo. If a long-term deal isn’t reached, these funds could be delayed until at least the next fiscal year.
Health care, a central battleground in the last shutdown, remains a contentious issue. The expiration of enhanced premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans at the end of 2025 has raised premiums for millions of Americans. Democrats, including Connecticut’s delegation, are pushing hard to renew the subsidies. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NBC’s "Meet the Press," "We’ve got to make sure that a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits passes out of the House upon our return next week so we can protect the health care of tens of millions of Americans who are about to experience dramatically increased health insurance premiums, copays and deductibles."
Republicans, for their part, have expressed skepticism about extending the subsidies without reforms such as income caps. Moderate members of both parties have been working over the holidays to find a compromise, and a procedural tool known as a discharge petition has set the stage for a House vote. Still, even if the measure passes the House, Senate GOP leadership is unlikely to take it up, as The Hill reports. This ongoing battle over health care costs continues to cast a shadow over the broader funding negotiations.
Meanwhile, Congress finds itself juggling other pressing issues. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump authorized strikes on Venezuela, resulting in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The move has sparked a fierce debate over presidential war powers, with many lawmakers insisting that Congress must reassert its constitutional role in authorizing military action. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who has long advocated for limiting executive war powers, said in a call with reporters, “There is no legal justification in the Constitution, in the history of the Constitution, or in American law that would authorize the president to wage war, to depose President Maduro and seize its oil and run the country of Venezuela without coming to Congress. It’s time for Congress to get its ass off the couch and do what the Constitution mandates that we do.”
In the midst of all this, the Justice Department’s slow release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has drawn bipartisan ire. Lawmakers are threatening to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress if the department does not fully comply with the recently passed Epstein Files Transparency Act. As CBS News notes, thousands of documents have been released, but lawmakers say this represents only a fraction of the total material required by law.
With less than a month to go before the funding deadline, Congress faces a daunting to-do list. The political will to avoid another shutdown seems strong—Sen. Dick Durbin told Politico, “I don’t want to see another government shutdown. I’ve had enough of them.” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis echoed that sentiment, saying, “No doubt, the administration wants to avoid a shutdown, and they’re clearly sending the message that we need to get regular order appropriations moving.”
But as the clock ticks down, the question remains: Can Congress overcome its deep divisions in time to keep the government open, address rising health care costs, manage international crises, and restore public trust in its ability to govern? The next few weeks will tell whether lawmakers can deliver on their promises—or if Americans will once again face the uncertainty and disruption of a government shutdown.
