"Congress is facing a perilous return from August recess with just weeks to pass a stopgap spending bill and serious differences between the Senate and House on overall fiscal 2024 spending levels and priorities. The fiscal year wraps up on Sept. 30, and Congress traditionally passes a short-term continuing resolution so it has more time to work on a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the 12 annual spending bills.

The Senate has been writing its fiscal 2024 appropriations bills to the levels laid out in the debt limit law (PL 118-5) negotiated by President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., earlier this summer, though with some extra emergency funds on top. The House, however, wrote its bills below the nondefense cap set by the debt deal, setting the stage for challenging endgame appropriations negotiations."