Congress is staring down another deadline with "unresolved issues" again standing in the way of passing the $1.3 trillion spending bill and keeping the government open, The Washington Post reports.
Though Democratic leaders have backed down on their demand for immigration legislation to be part of the spending bill, President Donald Trump is still trying to leverage protections for DACA recipients with funding for a border wall.
And the Democrats' desire for $900 million to help fund the Gateway project, a tunnel from Manhattan to New Jersey, is being resisted by Trump despite the support of some GOP lawmakers.
"There are some unresolved issues. We're working through them while we speak, and we're hoping to close it today," said House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday.
The House is hoping to hold its vote Thursday, sending it over to the Senate to pass with no margin of error before 11:59 Friday night.
Senate No. 2 Republican John Cornyn assured there would be not be a third shutdown — "you heard it here first" — and instead proposed a short-term extension to allow lawmakers to tidy up the language, assuming they can first agree on the issues.
Democratic leadership, finding themselves buffered by federal court injunctions against Trump deporting DACA recipients and Dreamers, have backed off their immigration demands for their inclusion in the omnibus. Rank-and-file Democrats, however, have not.
"I think Democrats right now would rather use the DACA permit holders as pawns in a larger politics game," White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said Tuesday, the Post reported.
And Democratic votes are likely to be needed in both chambers, given that fiscal conservatives are balking at the massive spending bill.
"I have not heard anything from any of my colleagues that would give me a whole lot of hope that there will be conservative wins," House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows said, the Post reported.
Sen. Bob Corker is also reportedly a "no" on the Senate side.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.