WASHINGTON — With stopgap funding set to expire in less than a month, Senate Republican appropriators Thursday unveiled a roughly $5.3 billion draft fiscal 2027 Legislative Branch spending bill that would boost security funding and sidestep contentious debates over a key watchdog.

The proposal would provide $965 million for Capitol Police, a nearly $83 million hike from fiscal 2026, but still short of the more than $1 billion the department requested as threats against lawmakers rise.

And it would bump funding for the Government Accountability Office up to $860 million, an increase of nearly 6% from fiscal 2026. That stands in contrast to the version of the bill advanced by the House Appropriations Committee in May, which floated slashing the GAO by 25%.

It joins several other draft spending bills released this week by Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is trying to kickstart bicameral negotiations as lawmakers stare down a Dec. 11 deadline to fund the government.

Her committee ran into a stalemate on topline numbers earlier this year that stopped it from marking up any of the 12 annual bills, but lawmakers nipped the threat of a government shutdown in the bud ahead of the midterm elections by pushing through a continuing resolution. With that funding now set to expire next month, appropriators are hoping they can wrap up at least some of the bills while punting the rest into the next Congress with another stopgap.

The Legislative Branch bill is the smallest of the 12 appropriations bills and typically among the least controversial. But debates over the GAO have become a sticking point during the Trump administration as the agency accuses the White House of violating budget laws — a move the Office of Management and Budget has pushed back on, arguing the GAO has no authority over the administration since it is part of the legislative branch.

The GAO has been without a permanent head after its longtime leader Gene L. Dodaro retired last year, although Republicans are now making a last-ditch effort to get one confirmed during the lame-duck session before Democrats take power.

The House version of the spending bill sought to bar the comptroller general from suing under the 1974 budget law restricting presidential impoundments, unless specifically authorized by Congress. But the Senate proposal includes no such language, and overall, it appears designed to avoid drastic or contentious moves.

It would also leave in place a provision that would block cost-of-living adjustments for members of Congress, whose pay has been frozen since 2009.

Senate Democrats, however, criticized the bill text after its release, saying it wouldn’t invest enough in the legislative branch.

“The Legislative Branch bill underfunds key work to support oversight of the Executive Branch, and it underfunds important efforts to keep the Capitol complex safe,” Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement.

The Architect of the Capitol would get $762.5 million, though funding for House office buildings is not included in that total. The agency is requesting $1.6 billion as it seeks to begin large-scale renovations of the Rayburn House Office Building. The architect has repeatedly warned lawmakers that parts of the Capitol complex are in need of critical infrastructure upgrades, arguing that delaying renovations will only make them more expensive as things continue to deteriorate.

The bill’s $5.3 billion proposal represents funding for the Senate and legislative branch agencies, while excluding House-only funds, which are typically added later.

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