The Senate is scheduled to vote on and pass the fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations bill for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today. The Senate has combined the Transportation-HUD funding bill with funding bills for the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Justice, and related agencies into what it is called a "minibus." The full House has not yet passed its HUD funding bill, which is expected to give the Senate the upper hand in negotiations; however, both the House and Senate's HUD appropriations bills include flat funding for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants.

Once the Senate passes the legislation, it is expected to go straight to conference, a process whereby members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee work out a final version of the legislation for final passage and the President's signature. In conference, the House and Senate will work out the differences between the two chambers' versions of the legislation.

The fiscal year began on October 1, and the government is currently funded through a stopgap measure that expires on November 18. It is widely expected that Congress will pass a similar stopgap measure to fund the government through mid-December to provide more time to finalize the remaining appropriations bills.