Overview
- Nine full‑year appropriations bills remain unresolved after leaders adjourned for the holidays, with Senate action stalled and House work largely undone.
- House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole and Sen. Susan Collins agreed on overall spending toplines that Republicans say would hold funding below prior levels, though the figures have not been released.
- Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expire Jan. 1, setting up premium increases for millions, and a House discharge effort to extend them faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.
- Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper blocked a quick vote after the White House resisted protections for the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a dispute tied to President Trump’s feud with Gov. Jared Polis.
- Republicans are weighing a health‑care push through budget reconciliation, but party leaders face internal splits, strict fiscal rules, and the Senate’s 60‑vote hurdle for regular appropriations.