GOP leaders eye a spending punt into 2026

By Meredith Lee Hill | 10/22/2025 03:48 PM EDT

With a Nov. 21 stopgap getting stale, lawmakers are now eyeing a longer-term patch to end the shutdown.

Steve Scalise speaks at microphone.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) speaks Wednesday during a news conference on Capitol Hill on the 22nd day of a government shutdown. Francis Chung/POLITICO

Republican congressional leaders are making plans for a new spending punt as the shutdown drags on, and any new version is likely to postpone the next deadline until 2026.

House and Senate GOP leaders are debating a wide range of options for a new continuing resolution to fund the government, given that their current preferred vehicle funds the government only through Nov. 21. The most likely option would run into mid to late January, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private conversations.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) confirmed Wednesday that a longer stopgap is under consideration, but he insisted it wouldn’t jam lawmakers up against a holiday deadline. His comments come after GOP hard-liners warned privately that they will not accept a December deadline, preferring April or later.

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“Democrats love the Christmas Eve, you know, omnibus bad deal. We’re not going to do that,” Scalise told reporters Wednesday.

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