FY 2026 Federal Appropriations: How much does Congress still have to get done?

The federal government is funded by Congress through the passage of 12 appropriations bills. Appropriations committees in both the House and Senate write and move their own versions of these bills, which are then approved by the respective chamber's full membership, reconciled in a House-Senate conference, with the final versions then passed again in each chamber before going to the White House for the president's signature. The last time Congress actually achieved all of these steps before the start of the fiscal year, October 1, was 1997. Increasingly, Congress uses a combination of continuing resolutions and omnibus bills to buy time and consolidate the process. Nevertheless, appropriators make the effort each year to get their work done in a timely fashion. Here is the current status o