# Congress Negotiates Year-End Funding

Congress has funded the federal government through **December 11, 2026**, under a continuing resolution while lawmakers work on the annual appropriations bills. The House has passed three bills, but Senate appropriators remain deadlocked over spending levels. A further short-term funding measure is possible, and a shutdown has not been confirmed; for contractors, the unresolved year-end funding path creates potential uncertainty around agency work and payments. One federal employee reported that their agency pauses separation actions during a lapse, but that account does not establish a government-wide practice.

- Companies should identify work, deliverables, and expected payments that could be affected if funding is not extended beyond December 11, and account for possible delays or disruptions.
- Contractors should track appropriations activity relevant to their agencies and use agency continuity guidance when planning work during a potential lapse.
- The retirement-processing account is agency-specific; contractors and employees should not assume that the described personnel or payment procedures apply across the federal government.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military, Healthcare
**Topics:** Grants & Funding
**Published:** October 31, 2026

### Government Entities
- United States Congress (Congress)
- United States House of Representatives (House)
- United States Senate (Senate)
- National Finance Center (NFC)

### Key Quotes
> I hope we can do that, and we’re going to do everything to work something out, so we don’t have another CR. If we have to, we’ll do it, but you know we prefer not to do it, and certainly we don’t want to have a shutdown.
> — Henry Cuellar, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security

> In my agency, we do not process any separation personnel actions (including retirement) until the lapse ends. Until the lapse ends, we do not have the authority to pay a separated employee any owed salary between the lapse and their separation date and/or their annual leave payout.
> — Original poster

### Sources
- [Trump looms as wild card in post-election funding fight](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/6169401-midterm-elections-government-funding-fight-shutdown) - The Hill
- [Shutdown on Dec. 11? Thoughts?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FedEmployees/comments/1xjrna4/shutdown_on_dec_11_thoughts) - reddit-fedemployees
- [Shut down impact of retirement processing?](https://www.reddit.com/r/FedEmployees/comments/1xk2z99/shut_down_impact_of_retirement_processing) - reddit-fedemployees