(The Center Square) – Republican lawmakers will soon release the text of a federal funding stopgap bill, marking the fourth time in a row that Congress has punted on financing government agencies properly.
The upcoming Continuing Resolution, if passed, will freeze federal funding at current levels for a period of seven weeks, giving lawmakers time to finish passing all 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026.
Leaders are also hoping to pair the CR with a three-bill minibus which passed the Senate and awaits a House vote. That would cut down the scope of how much federal funding needs to be put on cruise control by providing new funding for agencies dealing with military construction and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and the Legislative branch.
This plan would postpone the government shutdown deadline – currently Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2025 – to Nov. 20, right before lawmakers’ Thanksgiving recess.
Democratic leaders, however, are vehemently opposed to extending current federal funding levels through Republicans’ “clean” CR, which makes no concessions for Democrats.
Minority leaders have said they are willing to risk a government shutdown if the stopgap includes no provisions for supporting health care, such as extending the expanded Obamacare Premium Tax Credits.
“Partisan legislation that continues the unprecedented Republican assault on healthcare is not a clean spending bill,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-N.Y., posted on X Monday. “It’s a dirty one.”
Some House Republicans are opposed to this specific CR as well, with Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., balking at a plan that would likely pressure lawmakers at the end of the year to approve a giant spending plan.
“I am willing to vote for a CR of any duration—short or long—the least damage to the Republic, but I cannot support one that ends funding right before a major holiday to jam us with an Omnibus,” Spartz said on social media. “I’ve seen this playbook too many times.”
If Massie and Spartz remain the only Republican holdouts, the CR would have enough votes to pass the House, though the fate of the minibus in that chamber is still uncertain.
Republicans will also need at least seven Democratic senators to vote for the CR, but are betting that the political ramifications of a shutdown will cause enough Democrats to fold.
