Senate Left to Find Funding Solution

The House of Representatives is out of session this week, leaving the Senate to navigate the funding fallout after the events in Minneapolis over the weekend with just days until the January 30th deadline.

The Senate was set to vote on a package including the final six FY’26 funding measures this week, but it is now unclear how the Senate will advance following the events in Minnesota. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats will not provide the necessary votes to proceed on the appropriations package if the current Homeland Security funding bill is included.  It remains unclear whether the Senate will break up the package and advance the five other bills or if the DHS hold up will ground the entire process to a halt. Further complicating the situation is the House’s absence until February 2nd. If the Senate does anything other than pass the six-bill package as is, the measure would need to go back to the House.

Lawmakers in the Senate will convene committee hearings this week, including the following:

• The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will examine the federal environmental review and permitting processes
• The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ subcommittee on Disaster Management, District of Columbia, and Census will examine fraud in state and federal programs
• The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee will assess efforts to restructure the Veterans Health Administration
• The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will evaluate the progress and reauthorization of the Federal Public Safety Communications System