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Senate passes the FY2027 stopgap 90-6 by emptying an African trade bill

8 August 2026 · written 25 August 2026

The Senate passed H.R. 6500 by a vote of 90-6 on 8 August 2026, legislative day of 7 August, after adopting a substitute amendment offered by Senator Susan Collins that struck all text after the enacting clause.12 The bill the Senate amended was “An Act to extend duty-free treatment provided with respect to imports from certain countries in Africa under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, to extend customs user fees, and for other purposes,” which the House had passed 340-54 under suspension of the rules on 12 January 2026.23 As amended, it is the “Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027,” carrying four divisions — a Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027; Authorizing Extensions; the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2026; and Department of Veterans Affairs Extenders — with continuing appropriations running until the earliest of enactment of the applicable full-year appropriation, enactment of a full-year act without provision for the activity, or 11 December 2026.2 A second amendment directs that the bill’s title be amended “so as to read: ‘An Act making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2027, and for other purposes.’”2 The House had passed its own stopgap, H.R. 9770, by 220-205 on 21 July 2026 — 213 Republicans and six Democrats in favour — and that bill runs to 4 December 2026.45 Cloture on the Collins substitute was invoked 91-6 on 7 August, and a motion to table an amendment by Senator Ted Budd striking section 2019 was agreed to 61-32.67

  1. The vehicle suited the purpose twice over. Bills for raising revenue must originate in the House under Article I, section 7, and the House asserts a parallel prerogative over appropriations by its own long practice, so the Senate’s usual route to passing a spending bill first is to take a House-passed bill and replace its contents.82 H.R. 6500 was available because the House had passed it in January, and its customs user-fee provisions made it a revenue measure in its own right.23 Neither survived: the substitute struck all text after the enacting clause, and the second amendment replaced the title, so the African Growth and Opportunity Act extension the House actually voted on in January is gone from the bill that now bears its number.2

  2. The two chambers have passed different instruments, not different numbers. The House bill runs to 4 December and carries no division headings; the Senate bill attaches three further divisions, including a surface-transportation extension and veterans’ extenders, and runs a week longer.25 Each added division is a constituency for passage and a target for objection, so the difference between 4 December and 11 December is the least of what has to be reconciled.25

  3. The Senate text legislates against a pending rule and carries five departures from a straight extension. Section 157 of Division A provides that a rule revising the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards — arising out of the notice of proposed rulemaking titled “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance” published on 29 May 2026 — “or a substantially similar rule, shall not be issued or finalized,” and that if such a rule was finalised before enactment it “shall not have force or take effect through December 11, 2026,” effective immediately upon enactment.2 Section 101 separately continues five fiscal year 2026 appropriations Acts subject to exceptions: two sections of the Commerce-Justice-Science Act, one proviso of the Financial Services and General Government Act, and named sections of the Homeland Security, Interior and Labor-HHS Acts.2 The Financial Services exception is the last proviso under the heading “Election Assistance Commission — Election Security Grants,” which directs that $10 million of the $45 million in grants “be paid from the unobligated balances, as of the date of enactment of this Act,” in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund — a one-time funding-source instruction keyed to a date of enactment, which is the kind of provision a continuing resolution cannot carry forward; the grants themselves continue.2910

  4. Section 2019, which the Senate voted 61-32 to protect, would operate for twenty-nine days. It provides that until 11 December 2026 the amendments made by section 781 of division B of Public Law 119-37 “shall only apply with respect to products described in paragraphs (1)(C)(ii)(I) and (1)(C)(iv)(I) of section 297A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946.”2 Section 781 rewrites the statutory definition of hemp and takes effect “365 days after the enactment” of Public Law 119-37, approved 12 November 2025 — so it begins on 12 November 2026, and section 2019 expires on 11 December.11 The two clauses section 2019 preserves are the exclusions for products containing “cannabinoids that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant.”11 Confining section 781 to those leaves the rest of the new definition inoperative for that window, including the exclusion of final hemp-derived products containing “greater than 0.4 milligrams combined total per container” of total tetrahydrocannabinols and cannabinoids of similar effect.112

Footnotes

  1. U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote 228, 119th Congress, 2nd Session, 8 August 2026, on passage of H.R. 6500 as amended, 90-6, Passed. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1192/vote_119_2_00228.htm ↩

  2. H.R. 6500, Engrossed Amendment Senate, 119th Congress, “In the Senate of the United States, August 8 (legislative day, August 7), 2026,” resolving that the House bill “entitled ‘An Act to extend duty-free treatment provided with respect to imports from certain countries in Africa under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, to extend customs user fees, and for other purposes.’, do pass with the following AMENDMENTS: Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following”; and, as a second amendment, “Amend the title so as to read: ‘An Act making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2027, and for other purposes.’.” § 1 (short title, “Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027”); § 2 (table of contents listing Divisions A–D); Division A § 101 (rate for operations as provided in the applicable fiscal year 2026 appropriations Acts, with exceptions at paragraphs (2) Commerce-Justice-Science “except sections 521(c)(2) and 544”, (5) Financial Services and General Government “except the last proviso under the heading “Election Assistance Commission—Election Security Grants””, (6) Homeland Security, (7) Interior “except section 444” and (8) Labor-HHS “except section 528”); Division A § 106 (availability until the earliest of the three listed events, the third being “December 11, 2026”); Division A § 157 (the Uniform Guidance provision, including “or a substantially similar rule, shall not be issued or finalized” and “shall not have force or take effect through December 11, 2026”); Division B § 2019 (“SECTION 781 EXTENSION”). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr6500eas/html/BILLS-119hr6500eas.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  3. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 14, 12 January 2026, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 6500, as amended (“AGOA Extension Act”), Yea 340, Nay 54, Not Voting 37, Passed. Totals by party: Republican 149-43 with 26 not voting; Democratic 191-11 with 11 not voting. https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll014.xml ↩ ↩2

  4. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 272, 21 July 2026, on passage of H.R. 9770, “Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2027, and for other purposes,” Yea 220, Nay 205, Not Voting 6, Passed. Totals by party: Republican 213-1 with 4 not voting; Democratic 6-204 with 2 not voting; Independent 1-0. See House passes FY2027 stopgap to 4 December; Senate rewrite expected. https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll272.xml ↩

  5. H.R. 9770, Engrossed in House, 119th Congress, “Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2027, and for other purposes,” with continuing appropriations available through 4 December 2026 under § 106(3), and no division headings. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr9770eh/html/BILLS-119hr9770eh.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote 226, 119th Congress, 2nd Session, 7 August 2026, on the cloture motion for Collins Amdt. No. 6732 to H.R. 6500, “In the nature of a substitute,” 91-6, Agreed to. Cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 6500 was invoked 89-4 on 3 August (Roll Call Vote 218). https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1192/vote_119_2_00226.htm ↩

  7. U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote 227, 119th Congress, 2nd Session, 8 August 2026, on the motion to table S.Amdt. 6747 (Budd Amdt. No. 6747, “To strike section 2019”), 61-32, Agreed to. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1192/vote_119_2_00227.htm ↩

  8. U.S. Const. Art. I, § 7, cl. 1: “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.” The Supreme Court has read the clause to reach bills that levy taxes in the strict sense rather than every measure that raises money incidentally; the House’s parallel claim to originate general appropriations bills rests on its own rules and practice rather than on the clause. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-7/ ↩

  9. Public Law 119-75, division E (Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2026), under the heading “Election Assistance Commission — election security grants”: “$45,000,000 is provided to the Election Assistance Commission for necessary expenses to make payments to States for activities to improve the administration of elections for Federal office”; final proviso: “That of the amounts provided under this heading, $10,000,000 shall be paid from the unobligated balances, as of the date of enactment of this Act, in the fund established by section 9006(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9006(a)).” https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ75/html/PLAW-119publ75.htm ↩

  10. 26 U.S.C. § 9006(a), establishing the Presidential Election Campaign Fund on the books of the Treasury. https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/26/9006?link-type=html ↩

  11. Public Law 119-37, approved 12 November 2025, division B § 781 (note at 7 U.S.C. § 1639o): “Effective 365 days after the enactment of this Act, Section 297A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1639o) is amended”, striking and replacing the definition of “hemp”. New paragraph (1)(C) excludes, among other things, intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing “cannabinoids that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant” (clause (ii)(I)) or “more than 0.3 percent combined total” of total tetrahydrocannabinols and cannabinoids of similar effect (clause (ii)(III)); intermediate products “marketed or sold as a final product or directly to an end consumer” (clause (iii)); and final hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing such synthetic cannabinoids (clause (iv)(I)) or “greater than 0.4 milligrams combined total per container” of total tetrahydrocannabinols and cannabinoids of similar effect (clause (iv)(III)). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ37/html/PLAW-119publ37.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3

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