• Negotiators unveil $1.2 trillion minibus covering 70 % of discretionary spending
  • Deal rejects Trump domestic cuts, adds $8 billion to Pentagon request
  • House vote this week, Senate next week—10 days left until Jan 30 deadline

WASHINGTON (TDR) — Congressional negotiators released the final 1,500-page “minibus” late Tuesday that pumps $1.2 trillion into federal agencies through September, blocks the Trump administration’s deepest domestic cuts and still hands the Defense Department an $8 billion windfall above what the White House requested.

The package—the fourth and last chunk of fiscal year 2026 appropriations—must clear both chambers by January 30 to avert a second partial shutdown, giving leaders barely 10 days to whip votes and absorb inevitable last-minute sniping.

“We rejected the most extreme cuts, kept our promise to service members and still found offsets the other side can swallow. That’s legislating.”

—Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME)

What’s In the 1,500 Pages

The bill funds every cabinet department except Veterans Affairs (funded in minibus 3) and covers more than 70 % of annual discretionary spending. Text posted Tuesday night shows top-line numbers:

  • Defense: $908 billion—$8 billion above Biden’s final request and $42 billion above Trump’s 2025 blueprint;
  • Homeland Security: $104 billion—includes $3.4 billion for border tech and 22,000 new detention beds;
  • Health & Human Services: $135 billion—rejects Trump’s proposed 30 % cut to CDC, keeps NIH flat;
  • Education: $79 billion—restores Trump-sought elimination of Title I grants for low-income schools;
  • Energy & Water: $58 billion—blocks sale of federal dams, funds grid-modernization grants;
  • Transportation: $105 billion—fully funds FAA NextGen upgrades and $5 billion in Hudson Tunnel grants.

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Negotiators also tucked in a 3.1 % pay raise for federal civilians and a 4.5 % hike for uniformed military—both higher than the White House’s February request.

“We refused to gut medical research or kick kids out of Head Start. The Pentagon got a plus-up, but domestic programs survived.”

—House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

Trump Team Responds—Quietly

The White House budget office issued a terse statement praising “bipartisan wins for border security and defense” while noting “some provisions remain under review.”

Privately, administration officials told TDR they will not issue a formal veto threat because Senate Republicans negotiated the deal and the president wants to avoid a shutdown during Davos week.

“The boss hates the spending level, but he hates headlines about closed airports more.”

—senior OMB official on background

Calendar Crunch

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) scheduled floor debate for Thursday, with a final vote expected Friday. The Senate will gavel in Monday, January 27, leaving only three days to clear the 60-vote threshold and send the bill to the president before the January 30 shutdown trigger.

Conservative hard-liners are already signaling resistance. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD) called the package “a return to the swamp baseline,” while Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) vowed to force votes on amendments stripping non-defense earmarks.

“We’ll use every hour available to expose the pork and push for rescissions. If leadership wants speed, they can accept fixes.”

—Sen. Mike Lee

Policy Wins and Losses

Democratic victories: $1 billion for climate-science programs Trump wanted zeroed, $750 million for childcare block grants, preservation of the NEA and NEH.

Republican victories: $5 billion for southern-border wall construction, reinstatement of the Mexico City abortion-funding ban, elimination of DEI scoring in federal grants.

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Poison pills dropped: GOP language defunding Planned Parenthood and Democratic provisions blocking Arctic drilling were both stripped out to keep the package “clean.”

“Nobody got everything, but the country gets a functioning government—imagine that.”

—Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), vice chair of Senate Appropriations

What Happens Next

If the House passes the bill Friday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) must file cloture by Saturday to guarantee a Monday vote. A single senator could force a brief weekend session, but leaders on both sides say they have the votes to prevail.

Once signed, the measure will lock in federal spending through September 30, 2026, clearing the deck for what both parties expect to be a brutal mid-term campaign fought over inflation, immigration and impeachment inquiries.

“This closes the book on FY ’26. The next fiscal fight starts October 1—probably five minutes after we gavel out.”

—Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)

Will the new baseline survive a potential second Trump term, or is this the last bipartisan budget of the decade?

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