The shutdown watch is on.
With four days to go before a Friday night deadline to fund the government and no bipartisan compromise in sight, House Republicans unveiled a 99-page bill over the weekend to extend current federal funding, with some notable adjustments, through the end of the fiscal year in September. A House vote is expected tomorrow.
Democratic leaders oppose the GOP plan and are calling on their members to vote against it, arguing that it gives President Donald Trump and Elon Musk too much leeway to shut off or redirect funding approved by Congress. They also argue that the bill is far from a “clean” continuing resolution and instead adds money for deportations and the military while removing funding for non-defense programs. Thousands of non-defense earmarks are being left out, for example. Combined with other cuts and rescissions, Democrats note that the bill cuts nondefense funding by $15 billion and defense spending by $3 billion compared to an earlier bipartisan deal. (Read more about what’s in the bill here or here.)
Top Democratic appropriators have been calling for Republicans to negotiate full-year funding bills instead of a six-month extension.
“Instead of working with Democrats to invest in working families and communities all across America, Speaker Johnson has rolled out a slush fund continuing resolution that would give Donald Trump and Elon Musk more power over federal spending—and more power to pick winners and losers, which threatens families in blue and red states alike,” Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “Congress—not Trump or Musk—should decide through careful bipartisan negotiations how to invest in our states and districts—and whether critical programs that support students, veterans, families, and patients get funded or not.”
Republicans say they’ve avoided including any poison pills even as they rejected what they call “outlandish and unrealistic” demands by Democrats to impose restrictions on Trump. They are essentially daring Democrats to vote against the bill and let the government shut down. “Democrats have a choice to join us or display their true intentions,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said in a statement. “Should they choose to vote to shut the government for negotiation leverage and their contempt of President Trump, they are readying to hurt hundreds of millions more. It’s a battle they lost in November, and one the people will continue to see through.”
It’s not clear yet if House Speaker Mike Johnson can get the Republican votes he needs to pass the bill. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has already said he won’t support the plan. Other GOP hardliners would typically oppose a stopgap funding bill, and certainly one that keeps in place Biden-era spending levels. This time, though, they argue that by keeping the government open they’re allowing the DOGE cost-cutting effort to move ahead and avoiding the sort of massive year-end funding package they loathe while also setting up spending cuts for next year and beyond.
Trump is urging Republicans to back the bill, which he described as “very good” given the circumstances. “Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social site. “We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right.”
What’s next: The House is scheduled to wrap up for the week on Wednesday and be out until March 24. So House Republicans want to pass their bill and leave town, forcing Senate Democrats to go along quickly or face a shutdown. With Republican Sen. Rand Paul expected to vote against the bill, as many as eight Senate Democratic votes could be needed to pass it.
Even if the continuing resolution is passed and a shutdown is avoided, congressional budget battles will continue given that Republicans still need to finalize a deal between the House and Senate on their budget blueprint for next year, a key step toward enacting the Trump agenda.