House passes FY2027 stopgap to 4 December; Senate rewrite expected

On 21 July 2026 the House passed H.R. 9770, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027, by a vote of 220-205, sending the FY2027 stopgap to the Senate 72 days before the 1 October fiscal-year start.¹ The bill, introduced by Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.), funds FY2027 at generally FY2026 levels through the earlier of 4 December 2026 or enactment of the applicable full-year appropriations act; the Rules Committee reported the combined rule, H. Res. 1438 — closed for H.R. 9770 and the FY2027 budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 113), structured for the FY2027 NDAA (H.R. 8800) — by record vote of 8-4 on 20 July, and the House adopted the rule 214-211 on 21 July.²³ Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to vote no; six Democrats voted for passage — Kathy Castor (Fla.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas) and Gabe Vasquez (N.M.).¹ Senate leaders signalled a rewrite: Roll Call reported the measure “heads for Senate rewrite” — Senate Republicans said the House bill omits administration-requested funding anomalies, including for military programs, and the measure needs Democratic votes to reach the 60-vote threshold — while Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she opposes the House resolution and is drafting an alternative stopgap with Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine); the Senate Appropriations Committee has held no FY2027 markups and adopted no 302(b) allocations.⁴ The stopgap follows House floor passage of three of the twelve FY2027 regular bills — Military Construction-VA on 15 May (400-15), Agriculture on 4 June (213-210) and National Security-State on 15 July (217-209) — with no FY2027 bill through the Senate.⁵

1. The 4 December expiry sets the next funding cliff 31 days after the 3 November midterm elections, placing the full-year FY2027 negotiation in a lame-duck session; a continuing resolution at FY2026 rates operates subject to anomalies and rate-of-operations provisions, and its displacement by enacted full-year bills follows the bills’ superseding clauses and the CR’s own expiration terms.⁶

2. The stopgap moves in parallel with a new reconciliation track: the House Budget Committee under Chairman Jodey Arrington approved the FY2027 concurrent budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 113) 20-14 on 16 July 2026 — rejecting 14 Democratic amendments — with instructions to four committees for a reconciliation bill of up to $95 billion over ten years: up to $73 billion in defense and intelligence funds through the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, $12 billion in farm aid through Agriculture and $10 billion through House Administration for legislation aimed at preventing voting fraud, driven by the administration’s blocked supplemental request that includes $67 billion for the Iran war, with Roll Call describing the floor outlook as “dicey.”⁷ Adoption of an FY2027 budget resolution by both chambers would also supply the Senate’s missing enforceable 302(b) allocations (see FY2027 appropriations status: 109 days to fiscal-year start).⁸