WASHINGTON – There are just over two weeks until the federal government runs out of funding, and at the moment, there’s no clear plan to avoid a government shutdown.
Federal funding dries up at the end of the day on March 14. Lawmakers acknowledge that passing full appropriations bills are unlikely given the time crunch, and they are preparing a funding extension known as a continuing resolution, referred to in Washington as a CR, in the hopes of buying more time.
Republican leaders have floated the idea of a long-term extension that would fund the government at current levels through the end of September while appropriations leaders in both parties are seeking a short-term extension that would give them more time to finish the funding bills. President Donald Trump endorsed the long-term extension in a post on Truth Social Thursday night.
However, politics are likely to complicate either possible extension.
Democrats, who are the minority party in both chambers, have had few options to substantively push back on the new presidential administration that they view as violating the constitutional separation of powers through unilateral moves such as shutting down agencies and mass firings of federal workers. The funding fight is a case in which Democrats have leverage: Any funding bills will need to clear a 60-vote threshold in the Senate, so at least seven Democrats must vote in favor for it to pass.
Democrats have demanded that Republicans give them some reassurance that the spending bill will be implemented as written, a reaction to Trump and Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency project that has slashed federal programs funded by Congress. Even though the administration could still ignore that directive, Democrats argue it’s important to draw a line defending Congress’ power of the purse.
“We have seen this administration disregard a lot of things, absolutely,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. But “Congress needs to weigh in on how we want funding spent.”
Republicans have rejected those demands, arguing they’re not going to put constraints on the leader of their own party.
“They’ve asked for what we would consider some unusual restrictions on the power of the president. As I remind my Democrat friends, a Republican Senate and a Republican House aren’t going to limit a Republican president, particularly a president that has to sign the bill,” said House Appropriations Chair Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “So that’s just a nonstarter, it’s not going to work. It’s politically impossible, whether you agree its right or wrong.”
That dynamic was further complicated this week by House Speaker Mike Johnson saying a funding extension could reflect the changes implemented by Musk and DOGE, essentially codifying the changes that Democrats have been arguing are illegal.
“Well, it would not make sense to appropriate funds to divisions of an agency that doesn’t exist anymore. So you just have to apply reason to this,” Johnson told reporters Thursday morning, adding that the components still have “to be negotiated.”
The disagreement is setting up a likely game of chicken between congressional Republicans and Democrats, as both sides are already preparing to lay the blame for a government shutdown at the others’ feet.
Johnson told CNN Wednesday night that the Democrats are “trying to push us into” a funding extension because “they’ve added these really crazy conditions onto the negotiation over the last week or so.”
“Right now, the Democrats are, it looks like, trying to set up a government shut down,” he said. “We can’t allow that to happen and we won’t.”
Democrats argue that because Republicans control both chambers and the presidency, they carry the responsibility for keeping the government open.
“Democrats stand ready to support legislation that will prevent a government shutdown. Congressional Republicans, despite their bluster, know full well that governing requires bipartisan negotiation and cooperation,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to Democratic senators earlier this month.
“Of course, legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes and Senate Democrats will use our votes to help steady the ship for the American people in these turbulent times. It is incumbent on responsible Republicans to get serious and work in a bipartisan fashion to avoid a Trump Shutdown.”
During a government shutdown, all employees and functions that are not considered “essential” stop working.
Federal workers who are considered “nonessential” are furloughed without pay until the government reopens. The longest government shutdown was 35 days, from Dec. 2018 to Jan. 2019, during Trump’s first term. There were two other government shutdowns in Trump’s first term.
Essential benefits like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid payments would continue, as would mail delivery under the U.S. Postal Service. Food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and military veterans benefits would also continue.
However, national parks would close, security reviews to help defend against hacking would stop, civil litigation in courts would stop, and environmental and permitting reviews would stop. Air traffic controllers would continue to work, though there have been problems with absenteeism during previous shutdowns.
