What ends December 11? What expires and what Congress could do next
December 11, 2026 is a deadline for stopgap federal funding and several temporary extensions. Some required payments can continue beyond that date.
Bill status and Senate plans below reflect published records retrieved October 30, 2026, not a complete enactment cutoff. Source records have earlier update dates and may lag new actions or enactments.
December 11, 2026
Stopgap funding
Stopgap funding across all 12 yearly spending areas reaches its deadline on Dec 11, 2026. This is P.L. 119-103. It became law on Sept 2, 2026.
It generally continues 2026 funding rates through Dec 11. Funding for particular activities can end sooner under a new appropriations law.
Sources: P.L. 119-103: Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 · H.R. 6500, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027: official status record
Selected temporary extensions
Other extensions in the law end that day too. Key Defense Production Act powers and most veterans program extensions are on the list. So are funding for SNAP food aid and key powers of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Sources: P.L. 119-103: Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027
Covered payments due January 1, 2027
Some payments continue
Some required payments due about the first of a month, up to 30 days after Dec 11, can continue. That includes payments due Jan 1, 2027.
That exception does not extend all federal funding.
Sources: P.L. 119-103: Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027
Bill status and Senate plans in the checked record
Bill status and Senate plans below reflect published records retrieved October 30, 2026, not a complete enactment cutoff. Source records have earlier update dates and may lag new actions or enactments.
Religious freedom commission
The religious freedom commission's extension also ends Dec 11. The latest published bill record shows it was sent to the President on October 26, with no enactment recorded.
The President can sign it or veto it. If the President does neither within 10 days, not counting Sundays, it usually becomes law anyway.
H.R. 1744, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2026, strikes a date that an earlier law already changed. How that applies is a legal question.
Sources: P.L. 119-103: Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 · H.R. 1744, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2026: actions · H.R. 1744, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2026: official status record · H.R. 1744, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2026: enrolled text · U.S. Constitution, National Archives
November 9: Senate vote on a tax bill
The Senate is set to return for votes on Nov 9. At 5:30 PM Eastern, it is set to hold a vote to limit debate on taking up H.R. 2347, the Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act.
In its latest published version, H.R. 2347, the Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act, is a tax bill, not a funding bill.
Sources: Congressional Record S5299: Senate orders, September 30, 2026 · H.R. 2347, Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act: official status record · H.R. 2347, Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act: actions
What Congress could do next
Before Dec 11, Congress could send the President full-year funding bills or another stopgap bill. These are possible routes, not a scheduled plan.
Sources
- P.L. 119-103: Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027
§§101, 106, 111, 139, 2004, 2016, 3201 and Division D
- H.R. 6500, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027: official status record
Enactment of P.L. 119-103
- H.R. 1744, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2026: actions
GovInfo status retrieved October 30, 2026; last updated October 28, 2026, at 19:43:13 UTC. Latest action: October 26 presentment, with no enactment recorded. Published records may lag new actions or enactments.
- H.R. 1744, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2026: official status record
GovInfo status retrieved October 30, 2026; last updated October 28, 2026, at 19:43:13 UTC. Latest action: October 26 presentment, with no enactment recorded. Published records may lag new actions or enactments.
- H.R. 1744, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2026: enrolled text
§2(b), read alongside P.L. 119-103 §2016
- U.S. Constitution, National Archives
Article I, §7, clause 2
- Congressional Record S5299: Senate orders, September 30, 2026
November 9 return and vote on limiting debate on the motion to proceed
- H.R. 2347, Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act: official status record
Retrieved October 30, 2026; last updated October 2, 2026, at 19:59:31 UTC. Latest action: September 30 motion to limit debate. Latest published text: Senate-calendar version (PCS), July 14. Published records may lag new actions.
- H.R. 2347, Survivor Justice Tax Prevention Act: actions
Version and procedural status in the checked record
About this explanation
It covers selected provisions, not every extension in the law.
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