A bipartisan deal on funding the government for fiscal 2026 is still possible, if Democrats drop their demands for health-care subsidies and avoid a shutdown, a top Republican negotiator told reporters Monday.
House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) took a carrot-and-stick approach to this week’s shutdown standoff, saying a shutdown would hurt millions of workers and stall progress on a three-bill fiscal 2026 funding package — which is almost finished, he said. Without new or extended funding in place by midnight Tuesday night, agencies will shut down on Wednesday.
A shutdown “stops everything. It doesn’t just have a mechanical effect ...
