This story is part of CT Mirror Explains, an ongoing effort to distill our wide-ranging reporting into a "what you need to know" format and provide practical information to our readers.

This story was updated on Jan. 27, 2026.

After a record-long government shutdown that ended in November, Congress faces another funding deadline just two months later.

Federal lawmakers are trying to avoid another closure that would lead to furloughs of thousands of federal workers and a pause in some government operations. But the consequences wouldn’t likely be as significant as the one in the fall because a few agencies already have full-year funding through the end of September.

Funding standoffs have become increasingly common, and the government has operated for a while on short-term bills to keep things running at current levels. And that has left Congress more susceptible to shutdown threats.

When lawmakers returned from the holiday recess at the beginning of January, they had a short window to strike a funding deal on an appropriations package for the rest of fiscal year 2026 or opt to pass another short-term bill to give them more time for negotiations.

If they are unable to approve any funding fix by the end of the month, the government could fall into a partial shutdown — and the odds of one have grown amid the standoff on funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the wake of fatal shootings by federal agents.

Here’s where things currently stand.

Why is government funding running out in January?

Congress set the next funding deadline for Jan. 30 as part of a bipartisan deal that reopened the government in mid-November.

Members passed three of the 12 full-year spending bills that fund specific government agencies for fiscal year 2026: military construction projects and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, and the Legislative Branch which keeps Congress operating. Those funds will last until Sept. 30, which is the end of the federal fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the rest of the government agencies are operating on flat funding that will expire at the end of January.

Congress will either need to pass the remaining nine spending bills that’ll keep the rest of the government funded through September or pass another short-term measure known as a continuing resolution.

Will they meet the deadline to avert a shutdown?

Congress has been working on finishing up a broader funding deal in recent weeks.

Negotiations were underway before the holiday break and ramped back up again throughout the month of January.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, played a major role in those negotiations. She’s the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, which crafts and negotiates spending legislation.

Congressional appropriators made steady progress on releasing bill text and passing smaller packages with full-year funding for fiscal year 2026. The House completed its work last week on all 12 funding bills.

Now the Senate will take up the last six funding bills that are all packaged together, including the controversial measure that funds Homeland Security and the embattled agency it oversees, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ongoing tensions with ICE, on top of the snow storm, are complicating the passage of government funding. Senate votes were delayed and lawmakers aren’t expected to get to the package until right before the Jan. 30 deadline. Plus, any changes to legislation made by the Senate would need approval by the House, which is currently out of session until February.

Even if funding lapses again, it wouldn’t be like last year’s 43-day shutdown.

Some programs that were suspended in the fall, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, wouldn’t be in jeopardy again. That’s because Congress already approved full-year funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees federal nutrition assistance.

Will health care play a role again? 

No. The possibility of a partial shutdown now hinges on funding for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE following two fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis.

During the funding standoff in the fall, congressional Democrats made health care one of the central demands to earn their votes. Because of narrow majorities in Congress, Republicans needed Democratic votes at least in the Senate to pass any funding bills.

The debate revolved around the extension of enhanced premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans. With the expiration of those pandemic-era tax credits after Dec. 31, premiums are set to spike for many this year who get their coverage through the state’s marketplace, Access Health CT.

Now, congressional Democrats have shifted their focus to the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.

Senate Democrats, including Connecticut’s two U.S. senators, are mostly unified against new funding for DHS. They want to revise the bill and separate it from a package that funds other government agencies as a way to avoid a shutdown. Some of their demands include preventing U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents from being moved off the border and into the interior, requiring judicial warrants for arrests and protocol around mandatory training.

But Republicans are in the majority and would need to make that decision. The Senate GOP plans to proceed with voting on the funding bills all bundled together.

Will CT secure the rest of its congressional earmarks?

Connecticut’s congressional delegation scored some of its funding requests for local projects for the first time in years.

That’s because earmarks — now known as congressionally directed spending in the Senate and community project funding in the House — usually only get approved in full-year spending bills.

Lawmakers are able to make requests with some limitations that typically get steered toward pet projects in their states. Connecticut’s delegation has sought funding for infrastructure and environmental investments, social services for families and children, affordable housing and upgrades for police departments and emergency units.

Connecticut’s share of approved earmarks were part of the three full-year spending bills that passed in November to end the shutdown. But dozens of other earmarks requests are in limbo.

If Congress can pass some or all of the remaining nine funding bills this month, Connecticut will secure funding for its other initiatives that amount to tens of millions of dollars. Lawmakers in the state sought at least $177 million in earmarks for FY 2026.

But if the government stays open through a short-term fix or lapses, funding for those local projects won’t materialize. Lawmakers will be able to make new earmarks requests later in the year for fiscal year 2027.