Funding deal eludes Congress just days ahead of government shutdown deadline

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders still haven’t reached an agreement on how to fund a broad swath of the federal government, with just over four days to go before the deadline.

Money expires at the end of Friday for the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services and a host of other agencies.

Three sources familiar with negotiations tell NBC News the Homeland Security (DHS) portion is the final sticking point between lawmakers, with the other five funding bills covering the rest of the affected departments effectively settled.

Heading into the weekend, negotiators were poised to release a package that includes the five other funding bills and funds DHS separately on an extended stopgap basis, largely continuing the status quo. But now they’re back to negotiating a full-year funding bill for the department through the end of September.

Separately, a source familiar with negotiations said the White House and Democrats want more border security and enforcement money, while another source said Republicans want to reprioritize DHS funds toward the agency’s core mission, without elaborating.

The pivot back to those negotiations is slowing down the release of text for all six bills. And time is running short to get it through Congress even if they strike a deal imminently. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has indicted he'll give lawmakers 72 hours to read the text before a vote. The Senate will then require unanimous consent from all members to vote by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 22 to avoid a partial government shutdown.

The deal is being negotiated by Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the White House and top appropriators in both chambers. It comes after Congress,