By Siobhan Hughes, Anna Wilde Mathews and Katy Stech Ferek

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans unveiled a spending bill that funds the government at current levels through mid-November and boosts lawmaker security but omits healthcare money sought by Democrats, setting the stage for a bruising fight that ratchets up the chances of a government shutdown.

Congress must act this month to avoid a shutdown starting at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 -- two weeks from now. Democrats have already threatened to withhold votes if Republicans push a bill that excludes an extension of expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies. Those subsidies, rolled out by Democrats during the Biden administration, weren't extended in President Trump's sweeping tax-cut law.

House Republican aides said the House would vote on the legislation by Friday. Senate action would follow. The legislation would fund the government through Nov. 21.

The legislation also includes extra money for security, including about $30 million to help reimburse local police for the costs incurred in securing lawmakers, on top of about $58 million for protecting executive-branch and judicial-branch workers, House GOP aides said. The proposal comes amid growing fears about personal safety among lawmakers, following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week and the killings of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota.

GOP leaders have been sympathetic to keeping the ACA subsidies, but said they needed more time to work on the details. Republicans are discussing keeping them in place in some form but gradually shrinking or phasing them out. Meanwhile, leaders are pushing for a short-term extension that would buy them more time to also work on regular appropriations bills to fund the government for the full fiscal year.

"Right now, we've got to keep the government open," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) told reporters.

"I don't think there's going to be anything close to ready to go" by the end of this month, Thune said. "So I think we've got a path right now to keep the government open, to continue working on appropriations bills, and to have the conversations around that subject."

The proposal also includes a provision aimed at addressing a situation in which Washington, D.C., was blocked from spending $1 billion of its own taxpayers' funds.

House Republicans can pass the bill if they remain united, just as they did in March to pass the current spending law. But in the 53-47 Senate, GOP leaders will need some Democratic support to clear the chamber's 60-vote hurdle, meaning that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) faces a decision in choosing whether to stand firm and risk a shutdown.

"Senate Republicans are now saying, 'Oh, well, maybe we'll consider it sometime,' " Schumer told reporters. "We need Republicans to step up. Not say, 'Oh, maybe we'll look at it down the road.' "

Congress is under pressure to make a call on the enhanced ACA subsidies. Insurers and regulators are currently finalizing the rates for next year's Obamacare plans, which are expected to be higher in many cases because the boosted federal payments are sunsetting. Consumers can begin shopping for their 2026 coverage on Nov. 1, and many may experience sticker shock when they realize how much more they will have to pay for their plans next year.

However, the new ACA plans typically kick in on Jan. 1, and consumers have until Dec. 15 to choose their insurance for the start of the year. If Congress waits to take action as late as December, consumers, insurers and regulators would have to scramble to make the late changes, but people would likely be spared the higher insurance bills they will face this January if the enhanced federal help drops away.

The higher ACA rates are likely hard to reverse even if the enhanced federal subsidies are revived, meaning bigger costs for ACA enrollees who get no subsidies and pay their own full premiums.

Write to Siobhan Hughes at Siobhan.hughes@wsj.com, Anna Wilde Mathews at Anna.Mathews@wsj.com and Katy Stech Ferek at katy.stech@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 16, 2025 13:06 ET (17:06 GMT)

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