TRILLIONS National Weekly – Aug 3, 2026
Senate stopgap funding measure aims to avert October 1 shutdown, unless…
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The House of Representatives is now in recess until Tues, Sept. 8, 2026. The Senate will remain in session until this Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, before recessing until Mon, Sept. 14, 2026. However, it is possible the Senate may delay its recess if it is unable to complete this week a continuing resolution, President Trump’s judicial nominees, and an FY 2027 budget resolution aimed at launching a $95 billion reconciliation spending package (for Iran defense expenditures, agriculture, and incentivizing states to adopt stricter voter ID measures).
(1) MAJOR FISCAL (BUDGETARY) NEWS
APPROPRIATIONS -- SENATE ADVANCES 89-4 BIPARTISAN STOPGAP FUNDING BILL TO AVOID OCTOBER 1 SHUTDOWN: On Sunday, Senate appropriators released the text of a continuing resolution (“CR”) to fund the government at current levels through December 11, 2026 because Congress has not completed action on the 12 regular appropriation bills for FY 2027. (The new fiscal year begins October 1, 2026.) The Senate late Monday afternoon easily passed a motion to proceed to the bill 89-4, with Senate leaders aiming to vote on final passage by the end of this week—following which the Senate would recess for five weeks.
If the measure passes the Senate, the House will have to take up the measure when it returns in September. Section-by-section explanation of the CR.
However, House passage is by no means certain because the funding measure contains two rebukes of Administration policy:A temporary ban through December 11 on the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed rule that would effectively give political appointees veto authority over hundreds of billions in grants; and
A provision that “closed the loophole in the (House-passed) CR that would have allowed the Trump Administration to transfer funding provided for other programs to Border Patrol (CBP).”
Statements on the bipartisan spending measure: Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins | Senate Appropriations Ranking Democrat Patty Murray | House Appropriations Ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro.
Senate Ranking Member Murray said, “this bill blocks implementation of OMB’s corrupt new grants rule for the duration of the CR. The proposed rule would systematically politicize federal funding and allow Trump officials to cancel grants at any time for any reason.”
House Ranking Member DeLauro said, “while the bill temporarily blocks the proposed OMB rule, the fight must continue. The Senate bill forces OMB to continue reviewing the half-million comments that were submitted, but Congress must permanently prevent this corrupt, harmful power grab before the new deadline of December 11.”The Senate bill also includes some special provisions (“anomalies”) requested by the Administration to begin funding of particular projects but does not include the $1 billion requested for a new Trump-class battleship, which opponents believe to be premature.
The House initiated the CR process in July by enacting a bare-bones partisan funding measure through December 4, 2026, which does not contain the temporary prohibition on OMB’s implementation of the grant rule or the CBP funding provision.
Whether the bipartisan Senate CR averts a shutdown will depend on several factors:
Will it get 60 votes in the Senate for final passage? Outlook: yes, based on Monday’s procedural vote. (Appropriations measures are not filibuster-proof, so 60 votes are required to bring debate to a close.)
Will it pass the House with the grant and immigration funding provisions opposed by the Administration? Outlook: unclear. Speaker Johnson could have a revolt on his hands from hard right conservatives and would have to be willing to pass the CR with Democratic votes.
Will the President veto the measure because it does not include the SAVE Act Voter ID provisions he has repeatedly demanded, or because it includes provisions that would impede his grants proposal or the ability to transfer more funding to deportations? Outlook: unclear, although Politico reports that Sen. John Kennedy spoke with Trump on Monday and believed the president is “comfortable” with the Senate bill. Although, as we have learned with Donald Trump, “comfortable” one day does not mean “comfortable” the next day.
See daily updates on the CR at our appropriations tracker at Appropriations.Com.
BUDGET RECONCILIATION: “Budget Reconciliation” is a congressional budget procedure permitting budget-related legislation to move through Congress on a fast-track—immune from Senate filibuster—meaning it can pass the Senate without any bipartisan support and with only 50 votes. Since the beginning of the 2d Trump Administration, reconciliation has been used to circumvent the annual bipartisan appropriations process—enacting large spending increases for defense and immigrant deportations. GOP leaders have enacted 2 reconciliation bills and are now working on a 3rd bill:
Trump reconciliation 1.0 (enacted July 4, 2025): Enacted major tax cuts; major spending increases for deportations; and large Medicaid, food stamps, and student aid cuts. Net effect – major long-term debt increases with a big hit on healthcare, nutrition, and education.
Trump reconciliation 2.0 (enacted June 10, 2026): Enacted advance funding for ICE & CBP deportation operations through the end of Trump’s term—circumventing the annual appropriation process.
Trump reconciliation 3.0 is now on the front burner: The House began the third budget reconciliation process last month on 7/22/26 by passing a budget resolution calling for House committees to report reconciliation legislation enacting $73 billion in Iran-related defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion in farm aid to compensate for war-related fuel and fertilizer costs, and $10 billion to incentivize states to adopt elements of the Trump “SAVE Act” aimed at suppressing voter turnout through stringent voter ID policies to register. (Learn more about the SAVE Act.) Senate Republican leaders may try to advance the House-passed budget resolution this week if they can muster 50 votes for passage. However, last week, Senate GOP Leader Thune said the Senate lacked the votes for passage.
If the Senate passes the budget resolution, the House would have to pass a final version of the resolution in September; then several House and Senate committees would draft the legislative language called for by the resolution (defense, intelligence, agriculture, and voter ID grants); the budget reconciliation measures would then have to be combined into omnibus bills and debated and voted on by the House and Senate, and any differences between the House and Senate versions would have to be negotiated—a multi-step and complex process.
Talk of a possible post-election reconciliation 4.0: The Hill reported that GOP leaders are looking at a 4th reconciliation bill focusing on fraud reduction and more spending cuts; and Politico reports the Administration is looking at a 4th reconciliation bill to boost military spending and increase the debt ceiling.
(2) TRUMP’S IRAN WAR – Day 157:
LATEST -- It takes two to talk: Iran signals no immediate U.S. talks after Trump claims negotiations were to resume Monday, saying for the umpteenth time, this is Iran’s “last chance” to negotiate. According to Politico, “Trump’s remarks came on the heels of his early Sunday announcement on “Truth Social” that the U.S. was postponing a “massive attack,” after Iran and several Middle Eastern countries asked Washington to pause military action. But…as the Wall Street Journal reports “Trump frequently announces he’s halting strikes in Iran… (although) they keep happening.”
As gas prices escalate due to Trump’s unilateral war, he is now aiming his criticism at Exxon and Chevron for making “too much money,” and demanding they lower gas prices. In related stories, Exxon and Chevron reported a $26.5 billion combined windfall for the second quarter and Chevron awarded its staff bonuses following their earnings spike.
A shrinking weapons stockpile is testing the Pentagon’s sweeping new strategy.
Background on the Iran War: Trump’s Iran war violates Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution which gives to Congress, alone, the power “to declare war.” Trump’s attack on Iran was unilateral—without congressional authorization. President Trump’s military action also violates the 1973 War Powers law because there was no “attack upon the United States… or its armed forces” nor was there any evidence presented of an “imminent” attack.
(3) MAJOR ECONOMIC, TRADE, AND “AI” NEWS
TRADE: 25 states sued over Trump’s new tariffs, calling them ‘pretext’ to replace his old ones.
ECONOMY AND POLITICS: Reuters reports that voters prefer Democrats over Republicans on the economy for the first time in a decade.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Open AI and Anthropic are in the spotlight over out-of-control AI actions; and China is advancing production of home-grown chipmaking tools.
GOVERNMENT STAKES IN PRIVATE COMPANIES: Commerce Department quietly announces 7 new equity stakes in private companies.
SCARING AWAY TALENT: U.S. Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Students Wanting to Work After Graduation. Proposed policy would particularly affect Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and universities.
(4) HEALTH
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT CUTS IMPACTING HOSPITALS: Wall Street Journal reports that millions of Americans are dropping Affordable Care Act plans due to higher subsidies expiring last year which is impacting hospitals with more uncompensated care for uninsured patients.
MEDICARE: The Trump administration is ending a Medicare drug subsidy program. Here’s how it could affect costs.
CYCLOSPORIASIS OUTBREAK: CNN reports the first deaths from the cyclosporiasis outbreak.
(5) POLITICAL AND LEGAL NEWS
ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINATION: Two GOP senators dropped their opposition to Blanche’s AG nomination after he pledged to rescind Trump’s controversial “anti-weaponization” fund; however, critics say Blanche’s pledge to kill the fund has loopholes.
ETHICS: Trump accounts were closed in 2021 due to concerns over possible money laundering, Capital One says; and the Wall Street Journal reports on Trump’s unprecedented pressure campaign to “wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects.”
(6) OTHER KEY DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
EDUCATION DEPT – SLOWING THE DISMANTLING: Politico reports that Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) negotiated a bipartisan bill to stop the department from offloading special education, K-12 programs, and additional functions to other federal agencies.
HEAD START: Trump Administration Plans to Upend Head Start by Deregulating It.
CLIMATE FIRES: Nearly 65,000 people evacuated as Spokane County wildfires cause ‘heartbreaking’ devastation.
(7) OTHER KEY GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
UKRAINE: Backing away from earlier statements, Trump says the U.S. has ‘not agreed to’ grant Ukraine Patriot missile licenses.
EUROPE’S CLIMATE DROUGHT: Ships Can’t Move and Power Plants Shut Down as Drought Saps Europe’s Rivers. See Reuter’s “tracking Western Europe’s heatwave” and Romania’s drastic actions to reroute the Danube in order to cool a nuclear reactor.”
ASIA’S ENERGY-STARVED NATIONS GO DARK AS HORMUZ TENSIONS DRAG ON: The Iran conflict has hit countries least equipped to absorb a global shock.
(8) ANOTHER READ THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
2001: A Budget Odyssey by Trillions Weekly publisher Charles S. Konigsberg in The Hill
Speaking engagements and press interviews can be scheduled by calling: (301) 509-5688. Email comments, suggestions, and questions to: info@trillionsweekly.com.
About the author: Charles S. Konigsberg J.D. served as Assistant Director, White House Office of Management and Budget; General Counsel at the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where he had principal responsibility for managing federal budget and debt limit legislation; Minority Chief Counsel at the U.S. Senate Rules & Administration Committee where he advised the ranking member on budget, appropriations, trade, and tax legislation; Staff Attorney at the U.S. Senate Budget Committee where he had responsibility for federal fiscal law issues including the Impoundment Control Act and drafted the Senate’s first explanation of the congressional budget process; Director of Congressional Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and AmeriCorps; and Staff Director of the only national bipartisan budget task force to agree on a unanimous long-term debt stabilization plan.
Charles S. Konigsberg is also author of the book, Trillions: A Primer on Federal Spending, Taxes, the U.S. Debt Ceiling, and Fiscal Law. Click here to purchase. The 2026-2027 edition will be released this fall on Amazon.