House Appropriations chairman supports pushing government funding debate until November

House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole on Tuesday said he was in favor of pushing debates on federal funding from an October deadline until early or mid-November. 

The comment comes as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill from their August recess. One of the major issues facing Congress is government funding, which is currently set to expire Sept. 30 due to a six-month continuing resolution.  

Congress will have to either pass another continuing resolution to fund the government for another six months or pass regular appropriations bills by Oct. 1 to avoid a government shutdown.

Cole said that he would prefer to see a stopgap measure, which would freeze federal funding, that pushes the debate into November because he wants to get a "negotiated agreement" on all 12 appropriation bills.

“My aim is to try to get to a negotiated agreement on all 12 bills,” he told The Hill. “That’s what [Senate Appropriations Chair Susan] Collins and I are trying to work together on, and what we think the best thing is to begin the process and hope these other things resolve themselves over the course of discussion.”

Cole said lawmakers are looking at pushing the funding deadline until Nov. 6, but would not go beyond Thanksgiving.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.