Senate Passes Bill to End Shutdown, Keep Air Force Working on E-7

The Senate voted Nov. 10 to reopen the federal government and keep it funded through January, a significant step toward ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history. 

The continuing resolution, which still requires sign-off from the House, would fund most federal agencies at fiscal 2025 levels and allow nonessential personnel to return to work. Crucially, if enacted by the end of the week, it would also ensure members of the military receive their next paycheck Nov. 15, without the uncertainty that has plagued the last two paydays for troops. 

Generally, CRs bar agencies from starting new programs, awarding contracts that increase production or commit to a multiyear procurement, and spending above the levels set in the prior year’s appropriations act. The Senate’s bill, however, includes a few exceptions for some programs, including the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail.

The future of the Wedgetail, an airborne early warning and control aircraft, has been a particular focus for lawmakers for a few years now.

In the Pentagon’s 2025 budget request, the department asked for $418 million in research and development money to continue a rapid prototyping effort that would yield two airplanes. Congress passed a yearlong continuing resolution instead of a new appropriations bill based on the budget request for fiscal 2025, but appropriators gave the Defense Department program-level funding tables to signal their “intent,” and the Air Force went along with those plans for the E-7, reprogramming $188 million in R&D and $200 million in procurement for long-lead items, according to budget documents.

Shortly after that, however, the Pentagon revealed its intent to cancel the E-7 program as part of its fiscal 2026 budget request, prompting pushback from some advocates and lawmakers. The newly passed CR to end the shutdown includes another salvo in the effort to save the E-7.

It includes one provision directing that the Air Force use Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation funds “up to the rate for operations necessary for the E–7 Wedgetail program, in an amount not to exceed $199,676,000, only for the purpose of continued rapid prototyping activities,” and another section directing that anything left from the $200 million in E-7 procurement funding in fiscal 2025 be transferred to the RDT&E account “only for the purpose of continued rapid prototyping activities to maintain program schedule and transition to production for the E–7 Wedgetail program.”

Taken together, the provisos would ensure the Air Force has a clear directive to continue the E-7 program and the funding to do so, even as Congress continues works on a full-year defense appropriations bill and a National Defense Authorization bill.

The continuing resolution gives lawmakers some time to work on both crucial pieces of legislation. The House passed its version of the NDAA in September, and the Senate followed suit in October. The two chambers still have to craft a compromise bill that sorts out any policy differences. Both bills include major proposals to overhaul the Defense Department’s acquisition processes. The House’s Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery, or SPEED Act, and the Senate’s Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense, or FORGED Act, largely align with a new slate of weapons-buying changes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled last week.

On the appropriations side, the House passed its budget in July. The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced their version in July as well, but it never advanced to a vote before the full chamber.

Alongside the continuing resolution, the Senate noted Nov. 10 to approve nearly $20 billion in fiscal 2026 funding for Defense Department military construction projects and $133 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The military construction bill would provide funding for 300 projects at military installations and includes $7 billion for readiness-related infrastructure projects. Another $2 billion would go toward building and upgrading emerging capabilities, including construction of “next-generational hangars to support advanced platforms,” according to a Senate Appropriations Committee fact sheet.  

That bill also includes $1.9 billion to build, operate, and maintain military family housing and $1.3 billion for unaccompanied housing. Another $1.3 billion would fund quality-of-life projects like new gyms, hospitals, schools, and dining facilities.  

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Nov. 10 he hoped to convene members for a vote as soon as Nov. 12.