Tick tock: Congress has 14 legislative days to stop a government shutdown

Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill this week after an extended recess with a packed to-do list, top of which is efforts to prevent a government shutdown when funding for federal agencies expires at the end of the month.

The House and Senate are both scheduled to be out out the week of September 22, which means Congress has 14 legislative days to either make a bipartisan deal to extend funding or shut the government down.

Lawmakers are expected to turn to a short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, to tide agencies over temporarily. But even a stopgap bill will need bipartisan support.

A long-term funding solution will be even harder to craft. A key subcommittee in the House will hold a markup Tuesday evening on the fiscal year 2026 funding proposal , published Monday