What must Congress pass by Dec. 11? The lame-duck funding choices: another stopgap, an omnibus or a shutdown

Short answer: By Dec. 11, 2026, Congress must pass full-year spending bills, another stopgap, or a mix, or federal funding under P.L. 119-103 lapses. The same law also ends dozens of program extensions that day, from highway programs to some veterans' benefits. The outgoing, Republican-led Congress has to act before Democrats take over Jan. 3.

Key facts (as of Nov. 5, 2026) - Stopgap funding ends Dec. 11, 2026, at the latest (P.L. 119-103, sec. 106, approved Sept. 2, 2026). - It covers all 12 regular appropriations acts at fiscal 2026 rates (sec. 101). - Highway and transit programs, several VA programs and the Defense Production Act also run only to Dec. 11 (Divisions B, C and D). - No appropriations law has been enacted since, per congress.gov as of Nov. 5. - The new Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2027 (20th Amendment).

Our Nov. 4 story covered when the new Congress starts and what a House majority can do. This one looks at the job in front of the outgoing Congress, which keeps its full powers during the lame-duck session.

What expires on Dec. 11?

We read the stopgap law, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, directly (P.L. 119-103). It has four parts, and Dec. 11 matters in each:

• Agency funding (Division A). Section 101 keeps programs running at fiscal 2026 rates under the 12 regular appropriations acts, from Agriculture to Transportation-HUD. Section 106 ends that money at the earliest of a regular appropriation for the program, a full-year fiscal 2027 act that leaves it out, or "December 11, 2026."
• Program extensions (Division B). The law moves several expiration dates to Dec. 11, 2026, including Defense Production Act authorities (sec. 2004), EPA's Toxic Substances Control Act fee authority (sec. 2005) and a Food for Peace provision (sec. 2003).
• Highways and transit (Division C). The Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2026 defines its "extension end date" as Dec. 11, 2026 (sec. 3002).
• Veterans programs (Division D). Several VA authorities, such as collecting copayments for hospital and nursing home care, now end Dec. 11, 2026, instead of Sept. 30 (sec. 4101 and others).

So a missed deadline would reach beyond agency budgets. For what a funding lapse means for agencies and workers, see our Dec. 11 deadline explainer.

What are Congress's options?

Under the law and Congress's usual tools, there are three basic paths. None has been chosen.

1. Another continuing resolution. A continuing resolution is temporary funding used when regular appropriations aren't enacted (congress.gov glossary). Congress could pass a new one with a later end date. It could run weeks, into the new Congress, or through Sept. 30, 2027, as a full-year stopgap. A short one would hand the decision to the Democratic majorities seated Jan. 3.
2. Full-year spending bills, alone or bundled. Congress could pass some or all of the 12 fiscal 2027 bills. Bundling several into one bill is commonly called a minibus or an omnibus. This Congress did that before: P.L. 119-75, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, became law Feb. 3, 2026 (congress.gov). Any mix is possible, such as full-year bills for some agencies and a stopgap for the rest.
3. A lapse. If nothing passes, funding under the stopgap ends after Dec. 11, and the extensions above expire on their own terms.

Any of these needs both chambers and the president. In the Senate, ending debate on most bills takes three-fifths of senators (congress.gov glossary), so a funding bill would normally need votes from both parties there.

What have leaders said since the election?

As of Nov. 5, we found no leader of either party who has announced a specific funding plan. Here's what they said in public, as reported. We couldn't reach the leaders' official press pages, which blocked automated reads.

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), at a Nov. 4 news conference: "The first thing we are going to do is reduce people's costs and work the legislative process so it does," and "We are going to work hard to drive costs down with the president or without him" (Spectrum News).
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the same day: Democrats are "ready, willing and able to find bipartisan common ground with the other side of the aisle as long as we can bring about meaningful change on the issues that matter" (Spectrum News). He said he would meet House and Senate Democrats next week.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), on election night: "We still have a lame duck ... two more months ahead of us," and Republicans are "going to be ready to build on our record of accomplishment" (Rev transcript).
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), before the election, on a possible third party-line budget (reconciliation) bill: "Right now, we don't have the votes ... We might have them after," as quoted by The Hill. Reconciliation can't replace the regular appropriations bills, so it wouldn't settle Dec. 11 on its own.

Bloomberg Government reported, citing an unnamed aide, that the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees plan to meet early next week to restart talks (Bloomberg Government).

What are the key lame-duck dates?

• Nov. 9: The Senate is scheduled to return, with a permitting bill as its first vote, The Hill reported. We haven't confirmed the calendar from a congressional source.
• Next week: Appropriations leaders plan to meet (Bloomberg Government). Semafor lists the farm law and surface transportation extensions and the annual defense policy bill as other must-do items.
• Dec. 11: The stopgap and its extensions end (P.L. 119-103).
• Jan. 3, 2027, noon: The 119th Congress ends and the 120th convenes, unless a law sets another day (20th Amendment). Some races were still uncalled as of Nov. 5; see our uncalled-races tracker and how results are certified.

What's still uncertain?

We don't know which path Congress will take, how long any new stopgap would run, or whether leaders will agree on spending totals. We also couldn't find a post-election CBO or White House budget office estimate tied to this deadline. We'll update this page when Congress acts or leaders release a plan.

Sources

• Public Law 119-103, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 (govinfo PDF), Sept. 2, 2026
• Congress.gov, public laws of the 119th Congress, checked Nov. 5, 2026
• Congress.gov, glossary of legislative terms
• U.S. Constitution, 20th Amendment (Constitution Annotated)
• AP, "Democrats win US House and Senate," Nov. 2026
• Spectrum News, Schumer and Jeffries news conferences, Nov. 4, 2026
• Rev, Mike Johnson election-night remarks transcript, Nov. 3, 2026
• The Hill, "GOP clashes over Trump agenda in lame duck"
• Bloomberg Government, "Spending negotiators to meet next week to restart funding talks"
• Semafor, "Congress faces long lame-duck to-do list," Nov. 4, 2026

Photo: Noclip, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (cropped to 16:9). The west front of the U.S. Capitol, 2007. File photo.

Drafted with AI assistance from primary sources. Written and edited by The Whole Read newsroom under Monsaur Othman's editorial standards. Read how we use AI, our editorial policy and our corrections policy.