Congress is scrambling to roll out a government funding bill to avert a shutdown by Friday’s deadline, as lawmakers sprint to wrap up business for the year — and 118th Congress.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was expected to unveil the text of a stopgap on Sunday, but that plan did not come to fruition as negotiators work through last-minute funding hangups. At the top of that list appears to be dollars for farmers, and key lawmakers in both parties are now debating who deserves blame for the delay.

The clock, meanwhile, is ticking: Congress has until Dec. 20 to pass a funding bill or allow the government to shut down in the waning days of the Biden administration.

Also this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to visit Capitol Hill and meet with Senate Republicans as he tries to win support for his nomination to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

On the Senate floor, lawmakers will consider the annual defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), after the House cleared the sprawling measure last week.

Lawmakers look to break funding impasse

Lawmakers in both parties and chambers are waiting on congressional negotiators to unveil text for a continuing resolution, looking to vote on the legislation swiftly so they can avert a shutdown by Friday’s funding deadline and depart Washington for the holiday recess.

Johnson and other top members blew through their goal of releasing text on Sunday, as last-minute sticking points gummed up the process — including disagreements over aid for farmers.

Key lawmakers suggested last week that the stopgap, which is expected to run for roughly three months, would include another one-year extension of........

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