White House seeks to keep funding on autopilot through January 31 to avoid shutdown

Source: Reuters

September 9, 2025 5:02 PM EDT Updated 2 hours ago


WASHINGTON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The White House is seeking legislation that would extend current federal funding until January 31, avoiding a partial government shutdown beginning October 1, Republican U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Steve Scalise said on Tuesday. “That was a suggestion," Scalise told reporters, adding, “We're still working on the dates and how long it would extend, but that hasn't been finalized yet.”

A stopgap funding bill, if approved by Congress, would continue federal funding of many Washington programs at the current fiscal year's level, although there potentially could be add-ons for "emergency" accounts, such as for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief efforts. Individual lawmakers could also seek other new initiatives. Some sort of government funding bill is needed by September 30, the end of the current fiscal year when funding expires for a range of federal programs.

The White House had no immediate comment. Congress and President Donald Trump are fighting over around $1.6 trillion in "discretionary" government spending out of nearly $7 trillion overall when taking into account programs such as Social Security that are automatically funded, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. Some of the largest expenditures are for military programs and interest payments on a national debt of $37.4 trillion - an amount that is becoming increasingly worrying to fiscal experts.

So far, Congress has not agreed on any of the dozen discretionary appropriations bills to operate an array of agency programs in the fiscal year beginning October 1. This does not include safety-net programs such as Medicare and Medicaid health insurance for the poor, elderly and disabled. Representative Rosa DeLauro, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called the White House move an "extreme request."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-seeks-keep-funding-autopilot-through-january-31-avoid-shutdown-2025-09-09/