Senate Appropriations Committee Finalizes Stopgap Funding Measure with Key Differences from House Version

Senate appropriators released a bipartisan stopgap funding bill Sunday that would fund federal agencies through December 11 at current levels, averting an October 1 shutdown and delaying broader funding talks until after the midterm elections. A key provision temporarily blocks the White House’s proposal to let political appointees approve federal grants—a change Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski publicly supported. Unlike the House-passed stopgap that advanced without Democratic input, the Senate’s version also excludes new funding for immigration enforcement agencies, and it omits military increases the administration wanted. Senate leaders are under pressure to pass the measure on a floor vote before the upper chamber leaves for a five-week recess at the end of this week, reports POLITICO.