The current funding deadline is Dec. 11. Democrats, who won majorities in last week’s midterms, want to focus their first months on an affordability agenda rather than brinkmanship over a shutdown, the sources said. But they still must negotiate a stopgap with Republicans, who remain in control until the new Congress is seated.

A confrontation next month remains possible over funding for the war in Iran. Democratic leaders face intense pressure from their base to use the spending bill to end hostilities. Some members in both the House and Senate are already pushing to include language in the stopgap that would block any funding for the conflict. Key leaders have said they want to end the war but have not yet specified their demands.

Senate Democrats discussed options for Iran-related language during a closed-door lunch this week. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, said in an interview earlier this week that lawmakers are “exploring every option to figure out how to end the war in Iran.”

“I don’t trust [Trump] at all,” Murray said. “So we are looking [at] what language we can put in here that will actually make sure that we are writing bills that the American people voted for.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who is expected to become speaker next year, told reporters Thursday that House Democrats have been “strongly opposed to this war from Day 1, and we will continue to do everything we can to end it.” He said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top House Democratic appropriator, would evaluate how to handle war funding. “She’s working through all of our Democratic priorities to see what’s possible in advance of Dec. 11,” Jeffries added.

DeLauro told reporters this week that she still wants a stopgap that is “as short as possible.”

Republicans, meanwhile, have continued to release new fiscal 2027 funding bills even as they acknowledge the need for a punt next month. Conversations over the stopgap are still preliminary, and Democrats will need to work out a deal with Republicans on both the date and any Iran language.

The strategy carries risks: A stopgap into spring would give the new Democratic majorities more time to craft full-year spending bills, but it also punts the fight over war funding rather than resolving it. Progressive activists have demanded that Democrats use every lever to end the conflict, and any stopgap that does not restrict war funding could draw fierce criticism from the party’s left flank.

For now, Democratic leaders are trying to balance those pressures with a desire to avoid a government shutdown that would overshadow their early agenda. The closed-door talks are expected to continue in the coming days as the Dec. 11 deadline approaches.