Senate passes funding bill ignoring Trump's priorities

Erik Wasson, Bloomberg News on Aug 31, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed a short-term spending bill to avert a damaging government shutdown weeks before the November midterms, sidestepping President Donald Trump’s calls to also enact emergency funds for the Iran war and elements of a controversial voter identification proposal.

Senators voted 90 to 6 to approve the legislation, which would keep the U.S. government running from the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year through Dec. 11.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, who is in a tough reelection fight in Maine, called the bill a “major step toward averting a damaging shutdown that only harms vital programs and federal workers.” She said it is supported by the administration.

The stopgap passed after the Senate blocked an attempt to strip a one-month delay in new hemp regulations. The White House had requested the delay, which would aid companies making hemp products with low amounts of intoxicating marijuana chemicals.

Senators rebuffed the president’s demands to include new voting restrictions that Republican leaders have said they don’t have the votes to pass.

The stopgap bill heads to the House, which is expected to take it up when lawmakers return on Aug. 31.

The Senate bill includes a prohibition on a White House rule that could be used to direct grant money only to GOP-supporting states, and ensures the border patrol cannot receive higher levels of funding through a loophole.

“My Democratic colleagues and I pushed very hard and secured an important provision to prevent the Office of Management and Budget from implementing its corrupt new grants rule,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray on the Senate floor.

It also has provisions requested by the White House to allow a host of projects including for military hardware to go forward during the stopgap.

The bill’s relatively smooth sailing contrasts with massive battles that led to a record government shutdown last fall and a more narrow shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security this spring.

Senate Democrats, whose votes are needed to avoid a filibuster, failed to force Republicans to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies in the fall and failed to force the GOP to impose new limits on immigration raids during the DHS shutdown.

Senior Democrats see no political advantage in forcing another shutdown before the midterms, which they are trying to make a referendum on Trump’s handling of the economy.

The White House has pressed the Senate to separately pass some $70 billion on Iran war funds and the Senate GOP is poised to leave for a long summer recess without doing so.

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(With assistance from Steven T. Dennis.)

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