Senate passes first funding package ahead of shutdown cliff

Source: Politico

08/01/2025 07:47 PM EDT
Updated: 08/01/2025 08:03 PM EDT


The Senate passed its first three spending bills Friday, taking swift action after leaders struck a bipartisan agreement to package the bills together earlier in the day. The chamber voted 87-9 to pass a two-bill package to fund the departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture, along with military construction and the Food and Drug Administration. In a separate 81-15 vote they also passed a third bill to fund Congress itself.

With federal cash set to dry up at the end of September, the Senate’s minibus would do nothing to stave off a government shutdown that could potentially hobble federal agencies in October. But Senate leaders still want to move that package through with the goal of gaining leverage in the broader spending talks with the House and President Donald Trump.

“It’s taken a great deal of work, good faith and negotiation to get to this point,” Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine). “Congress has a responsibility, a constitutional responsibility under Article I, for the power of the purse. We are executing that responsibility.” The package would provide almost $154 billion for military construction and veterans programs. It would send more than $27 billion to the Agriculture department and FDA. Both represent a roughly 2 percent boost over current levels.

The Senate rejected an amendment from Sen. Jeff Merkley, an appropriator and the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, that would bar the rescission, or clawback, of funds in the bill by the White House. Democrats are worried that the administration will send another rescissions package ahead of the fall funding deadline, which would likely implode any hopes of getting a larger funding deal. Still, Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, defended the smaller deal reached among senators, saying that the package “rejects damaging cuts from Trump and House Republicans.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/01/senate-passes-first-funding-package-ahead-of-september-shutdown-cliff-00489731