The US House of Representatives passed a stopgap spending bill on Tuesday to keep the government funded until 4 December, as Republican leaders sought to remove funding fights from the political agenda ahead of November's midterm elections. The move comes ahead of a 30 September deadline, when current spending authority expires, and follows repeated shutdowns and shutdown threats over the past year linked to disputes over healthcare tax credits and immigration enforcement.

The continuing resolution passed 220-205 largely along party lines and now moves to the Senate, where it will need bipartisan backing to succeed. A related procedural vote earlier in the day, clearing the way for a separate $95bn party-line package, passed 214-211. Democrats, including appropriations committee member Rosa DeLauro, said they were not seeking a shutdown but objected to the bill for funding border patrol operations without reforms, calling it hastily drafted. With the Senate yet to pass any of its own appropriations measures for the 2027 fiscal year, negotiations are expected to intensify in September once Congress returns from recess, against the backdrop of the approaching midterms.