On November 21, the House approved, 407-16, a continuing resolution (H. J. Res. 79) to fund government programs at their FY2003 levels until January 31, 2004. The Senate approved the resolution by unanimous consent that same evening.
To date, only 6 of the 13 spending bills have been enacted into law: defense, energy and water, homeland security, interior, legislative branch, and military construction. The remaining bills were rolled into an omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673), which the House Appropriations Committee filed on November 25: agriculture; Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary; District of Columbia; foreign operations; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies; and Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies.
The House is expected to take up the conference report for H.R. 2673 on December 8. The Senate is expected to be in session on December 9, but it may not complete consideration of the bill until January of next year.
