Trump signs bill funding the government through December

• Key insight: The House on Tuesday passed a continuing resolution to fund the government at existing levels through mid-December, and President Donald Trump signed the bill on Wednesday.
• What's at stake: The bill averts a government shutdown during the home stretch of the 2026 midterm elections, keeping important programs like crop insurance and development grants that bank customers rely on functioning.
• Forward look: The passage delays critical spending fights until after the November election, making a full annual spending package Congress' most important item of the post-election lame duck session.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed the continuing resolution to keep the government fully operational though the midterms and into December. 
The signing Wednesday delays a larger and more difficult fight about government spending until Dec. 11, and will keep programs that banks rely on running while those spending battles play out. 

The continuing resolution largely funds existing programs at existing levels, but includes a few changes, most notably a provision that prevents the White House from politicizing the disbursement of grants and disaster relief from the federal government. That provision was negotiated into the Senate version of the bill by Democrats and was included in the House version of the bill as well.

The CR would also provide continuity to grant programs that banks and their customers are counting on, including crop insurance and small-business grants through the Small Business Administration. A lapse in crop insurance availability in early fall would be particularly difficult timing for farmers going into harvest season and preparing for next year's crops.  

The House passed the continuing resolution on Tuesday evening in a wide bipartisan vote of 370-48. The Senate passed its version of the resolution 90-6 before heading out for its August recess. 

Come December, lawmakers will consider the results of the midterms when debating further government spending. Republicans are likely to argue for a larger military budget, particularly for immigration enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, while further slashing domestic programs. Democrats, by contrast, have been seeking to curb what it views as excesses of this administration's policies, including in instituting tariffs, the war with Iran and downsizing federal agencies without congressional authorization.

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