Senate passes stopgap funding: as midterms approach, a temporary compromise takes precedence amid geopolitical escalation

On January 30, 2026, the US Senate, with votes from 48 Republicans and 23 Democrats, approved a package of bills for funding government institutions for the 2026 fiscal year.

Five bills, which found support among an absolute majority of the Republican faction and nearly half of the Democrats in the Senate, allocated funds for the Department of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Housing and Urban Development, as well as other government agencies.

At the same time, the adoption of such decisions on the day the previous government funding expired caused a shutdown—a temporary suspension of operations for the relevant ministries and agencies, which will last until the mentioned legislative initiatives are approved in the House of Representatives.