While much of the attention in Congress this week has been on the soon-expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits (PTCs), lawmakers are facing another deadline at the end of January for government funding of nine of the 12 annual appropriations bills. It will be a heavy lift to have the House and Senate agree to and pass the bills, either separately or as "minibus" packages of multiple spending bills, thereby avoiding either another continuing resolution or the prospect of a second government shutdown.

Congress now faces a January 30 deadline to pass the remaining bills (or another CR/minibus), but members are divided over topline spending numbers and potential add-ons. Typically, in recent years, House Republicans pass appropriations bills with deep spending cuts and partisan policy riders, while the Senate Appropriations Committee works in a more bipartisan fashion. The House and Senate must compromise and agree on the same bills, and the support of some Democrats is required because appropriations bills require 60 votes in the Senate.

The continuing resolution (CR) deal to end the shutdown included approval of the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Agriculture (which includes the Food and Drug Administration), and Legislative Branch appropriations bills, which are traditionally regarded as the easiest for lawmakers to agree on. The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved five more of the dozen annual bills. The House has passed the Defense Appropriations and Energy and Water bills, and the others have been approved by the House Appropriations Committee.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) posted on social media November 19, "It is my intention this week to start the consideration of a package of up to five appropriations bills so that we can fund the government in a transparent and open way." Bills under consideration for a next Senate minibus are:

• Labor-HHS
• Defense
• Transportation-HUD
• Interior
• Commerce-Justice-Science

Roll Call reported that the top Republican and Democratic members of the House and Senate appropriations committees — Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK) and Rosa De Lauro (D-CT) and Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Patty Murray (D-WA) — met November 20 to discuss the appropriations landscape without any breakthroughs. Senator Collins "favors moving a massive package of up to five bills, featuring the two largest — Defense and Labor-HHS-Education. But there is no sign of any bipartisan agreement on overall spending limits, a major impediment to moving a package that would well exceed $1 trillion and make up the bulk of the year's discretionary spending," the report said. "By contrast, House Appropriations Chairman [Cole] wants to move a smaller batch of bills that could conceivably be enacted before Christmas."

"A smaller minibus would allow House and Senate Democratic and Republican leadership to continue working on a topline spending agreement that's usually needed to move the Defense and Labor-HHS bills … " Punchbowl News reported November 19. "Top House and Senate appropriators on both sides of the aisle are getting closer to agreements on the other individual bills, though. Some, at least, are now reaching out to each other."

While finalizing the remaining bills will require bipartisan and bicameral negotiations, the table below reflects where they stand now:

An appropriations tracker is available here.

Health care — Aside from the myriad policy details of possible alternative approaches to respond to the question of whether to extend enhanced ACA PTCs, there is the basic question of timing, with Congress out next week for Thanksgiving then in for only a few weeks before the holidays and, shortly thereafter, expiration of the enhanced credits at the end of the year. Democrats say an extension of the credits is the only option with time growing short, an assertion that Republicans are pushing back on.

The November 19 Senate Finance Committee hearing on "The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for all Americans" primarily focused on the ACA enhanced PTCs expiring at the end of the year. All Democrats and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) stated they would support at least a short-term extension of the PTCs while lawmakers work on bipartisan reforms, while Republicans voiced their opposition to extending the enhanced PTCs, which they said results in funneling taxpayer money directly to insurers without addressing the underlying problems with costs and the ACA.

Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) said during the hearing, "There is no way for Congress to put together a proposal in the next couple of weeks that's going to help people in January. Just can't be done. A clean extension this year is the bare minimum of what's necessary."

Punchbowl News reported this morning that, in addition Senator Tillis supporting a temporary patch, Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) and others are encouraging the President to "support a limited short-term extension of Obamacare subsidies, arguing it would save the GOP from a 2026 drubbing and buy time for Congress to pass a longer-term health care plan that mirrors the president's preferences."

A November 20 Semafor report said, "Democrats are deliberating between engaging with the GOP or forcing Republicans to vote down a subsidy extension and letting them deal with the political fallout," and cited GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) as saying they need "major modifications, major revisions" to the ACA to consider a Democratic proposal.

Tax — The uncertain future of an extension of the most high-profile expiring provision, the enhanced ACA credits, and the January 30 government funding deadline — as opposed to sometime in December — scrambles the outlook for other items like tax extenders, restoring the full 100% deduction for gambling losses from the 90% deduction approved in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," and trade programs.

A November 20 Bloomberg Daily Tax Report story on one tax extender provision said, "Key lawmakers in both parties and chambers are introducing legislation that combines disparate efforts to expand the work opportunity tax credit [WOTC], a federal break for companies that employ veterans, ex-felons, and recipients of needs-based benefits. The introduction comes at the same time that business groups and other stakeholders are escalating their push for an expansion and extension of the credit." Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), both members of the congressional tax-writing committees, are set to introduce legislation that would extend WOTC for five years and index its benefits to inflation.

Rep. Smucker already sponsors the Improve and Enhance the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Act (H.R. 1177) to update WOTC, encourage longer-service employment, and increase the credit percentage from 40% to 50%.

Nominations — The Senate Finance Committee on November 19 approved the nominations of:

• Arjun Mody to be Deputy Commissioner at the Social Security Administration by a 14-13 vote along party lines
• Jeffrey Goettman to be a Deputy United States Trade Representative (Africa, Western Hemisphere, Europe, the Middle East, Environment, Labor, and Industrial Competitiveness) by a 17-10 vote with Democratic Senators Warner, Whitehouse, Warnock in favor
• Julie Callahan to be Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative, by a 17-10 vote with Democratic Senators Warner, Whitehouse, Warnock in favor
• Thomas Bell to be Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services by a 14-13 vote along party lines

Congress is out next week for the Thanksgiving holiday and What to Expect in Washington won't be published.