Congressional leaders strike a deal on appropriations bills and a stopgap funding measure

By Melanie Zanona, Kristin Wilson and Haley Talbot

Congressional leaders have struck a deal on some of the appropriations bills funding the federal government, as well as a short-term stopgap measure that would extend government funding and prevent a partial shutdown ahead of a Friday night deadline.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other top lawmakers announced that negotiators have come to an agreement on six bills and that the package will be voted on and passed before March 8.

“To give the House and Senate Appropriations Committees adequate time to execute on this deal in principle, including drafting, preparing report language, scoring and other technical matters, and to allow members 72 hours to review, a short-term continuing resolution to fund agencies through March 8 and the 22 will be necessary, and voted on by the House and Senate this week,” the congressional leaders said in their statement.

The six bills in the proposed agreement cover funding for:

• The Agriculture Department and Food and Drug Administration
• The Commerce and Justice Departments
• Science, Energy and Water development
• The Interior Department
• Military Construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs
• The Transportation Department and Housing and Urban Development

It would also extend the deadline for six other priorities, including Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Financial Services, State and Foreign Ops and Legislative Branch, through March 22, while negotiators work on a broader agreement to fully fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September.

The House plans to vote Thursday on the one-week stopgap measure to avert a partial government shutdown, a GOP aide told CNN Wednesday, coming just one day before the deadline to fund roughly 20% of the federal government.

Following a meeting of congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday, Johnson had offered to move a stopgap spending bill to buy negotiators more time to hammer out a longer-term spending agreement ahead of Friday’s first funding deadline, according to sources familiar with the matter. The speaker’s proposal to the White House, first reported by Punchbowl News, included moving the funding deadline for four government agencies from March 1 to March 8, and kick the rest to March 22.

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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