Congress passed, and Trump signed, a funding bill that only keeps the government open through December. Reasonable compromise, or kicking the can?
The bill passed the House 370-48 and Trump signed it September 2 — but Democrats say it still favors defense spending over domestic programs, and the same fight resumes right before the holidays.
What happened
President Trump signed H.R. 6500 on September 2, funding the federal government through December 11 and avoiding a shutdown ahead of the September 30 fiscal deadline. The bill passed the House 370-48 and cleared the Senate comfortably, but only after a fight over Republicans seeking hundreds of billions more in military spending while cutting non-defense programs, which Democrats say still didn't get the 'parity' with domestic spending they wanted.
Why people disagree
Supporters call the wide bipartisan margin proof it was a reasonable, necessary compromise that kept the government open through the election season. Critics on the left say it locks in a defense-heavy spending split without fixing the underlying disagreement, and note the same fight — over the same unresolved priorities — just comes back in December, right before the holidays.
What's still unclear
Whether December's funding fight goes any more smoothly than this one, especially with a midterm election bearing down and neither side having actually resolved what they disagree about.
Sources
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