Lawmakers ready bill to avoid another shutdown
By: Zachary Schermele
USA today
..... Top lawmakers in Congress released three bipartisan spending bills on January 5 [2026] that they're aiming to pass before the end of the month [01/2026] to avoid another government shutdown.
.....
Even if lawmakers fail to pass more appropriations measures by a looming January 30 [2026] deadline, the government would only partially shut down. Congress already approved a series of full-year funding measures in November. [2025]
..... Still, on the heels of the record-breaking fiscal crisis last year, [2025] There's not much appetite on Capitol Hill to allow funding to lapse.
..... The same Democrats who pushed hard in October 2025 to shutter federal agencies - mostly in failed hopes of pressuring Republicans to extend health care subsidies that expired at the start of 2026 - are already saying they don't expect to do it all over again.
..... Asked on ABC's "this Week" January 4 [2026] whether the country was headed into another government shutdown. Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-New York, simply said "no."
..... "The good news is our Republican appropriators are working with us and we're making good progress in that regard," he said.
..... The bipartisan bills would reverse Trump administration funding cuts to agencies like the National Science Foundation and the National Park Service. They also include language to more forcefully assert the spending authority of Congress amid recent pushes by the White House to override lawmakers' allocations.
..... One provision in the legislative package that's already stirring some controversy would shield pesticide manufacturers from some liability, according to opponents of the measure. Supporters rebut that it would not impact current or future litigation against those companies. Representative Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, pledged to introduce an amendment to repeal the language.
..... congress is also far from coalescing around any of the many alternative legislative plans that have been floated to attempt to bring down health care costs as they spike for millions of families, particularly Affordable Car Act enrollees.