SBLC Weekly Hill Update – January 26, 2026

he House is in recess this week.  The Senate had been scheduled to return today, but leadership postponed votes to tomorrow to accommodate weather-related travel delays. 

Appropriations: The vast majority of federal government funding expires on Friday at midnight.  Although the six appropriations bills not yet signed into law had appeared to be on a glide path to enactment before the deadline, a partial government shutdown is now likely.

Last week, appropriators released a bipartisan minibus comprised of the final four spending bills:  Defense, Homeland Security, Labor-Health and Human Services, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development.

Midwestern and farm state members threatened to tank the bill unless it included language to allow for expand sales of E15, an ethanol-based biofuel.  Oil and gas state members oppose that proposal, arguing that it would result in the closure of some U.S. refineries.  Leadership negotiated a compromise, incorporated in the version of the minibus reported out of the Rules Committee, that provides for the creation of a rural energy council tasked with drafting a solution to be brought to the House floor for a vote by February 25.  The rule itself required separate votes on the Homeland Security provisions of the minibus and its remaining provisions.  After passage of both parts, the rule mandated the combination of the entire four-bill spending measure with the two-bill minibus passed by the House on January 14 (covering Financial Services-General Government and National Security-State spending measures) and transmission of that single engrossed bill to the Senate.

During floor debate on passage of the rule, the House voted unanimously to add language that will kill a provision the Senate slipped into in the temporary funding measure that ended last fall’s government shutdown.  That provision allowed Senators to sue the federal government for upwards of $500,000 in damages if their phone records were seized without their knowledge as part of the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.  But Republican leaders just barely pulled together enough votes from their own conference to pass the rule on the floor. 

In considering the underlying bill, the House passed the Homeland Security portion by a vote of 220-207.  Only seven Democrats voted for it, and one Republican voted against it. 

During debate on the remaining parts of the minibus, the House rejected two amendments offered by far-right members targeting specific earmarks.  It passed that portion of the bill by a vote of 341-88.

House Republican and Democratic leaders surprised many with their ability to navigate a toxic political climate and get this done, and both emerged stronger as a result.  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) fulfilled his promise of a return to regular order appropriations.  Democrats were able to scale back top-line spending levels initially proposed by the GOP, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) can argue that they avoided ceding too much control to the administration with respect to federal spending decisions.  Both leaders successfully navigated culture war issues that could have threatened passage of the bills.  Appropriators preserved their power of the purse, and rank-and-file members secured earmarks for their districts.

The outlook for passage of the package in the Senate changed significantly over the weekend.  In response to the killing of a man by ICE in Minnesota, many Democrats have publicly announced that they will not vote for the minibus unless the Homeland Security section is stripped out and amended to include language to rein in ICE immigration enforcement activities.  Opposition to that part of the bill extends beyond members of the progressive wing of the Democratic party to also include Senators who have consistently voted to pass FY 2026 appropriations bills, like Sens. Catherine Cortez-Masto (R-NV) and Angus King (I-ME) (King caucuses with the Democrats), and members who voted to end the last government shutdown, like Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Jackie Rosen (D-NV).  Republicans cannot clear the initial 60-vote procedural threshold to begin consideration of the package without 7-10 Democratic votes (the exact number will depend on the number of Republican fiscal hawks who vote against it).  If the Senate makes any changes to the package before passage, it must return to the House for another vote.  But, as noted above, the House is in recess this week, and at this point the Speaker has no intention of calling members back ahead of schedule. 

Bipartisan Healthcare Negotiations Failed: Senate bipartisan negotiations on an extension of the expired enhanced premium tax credits did not produce a deal.  The group is not planning further meetings.

House: In recess this week.

Senate: Leaders plan to start the week with a procedural vote on a pregnancy-related bill (S. 3627) (the House passed a similar bill last week).  The schedule also contemplates floor action on a bill (S. 2806) that aims to eliminate government shutdowns by providing for automatic 14-day continuing appropriations when Congress fails to enact a spending bill before the beginning of a new fiscal year.  As of now, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) plans to bring up the House-passed appropriations minibus.  Absent unanimous consent, the initial procedural vote on that package cannot occur before Thursday.

Notable committee action this week includes:

Wednesday, January 28, 10:00 am

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

Hearing: “To examine improving the federal environmental review and permitting process, part 2”

Wednesday, January 28, 2:30 pm

Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee

Hearing: “To examine integrity in small business programs”

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

MaggiLazarus

Of Counsel

(202) 831-6756  

MLazarus@btlaw.com

Matt Morgan

Partner

(317) 554-7997

Mmorgan@btlaw.com