(The Center Square) – With a government shutdown just a week away, top Republicans are planning a six-month stopgap bill that would place government funding levels on autopilot until the end of the fiscal year.
The upcoming Continuing Resolution (CR) would mark the third time Congress punted the deadline to pass the annual 12 comprehensive appropriations bills that provide money for federal agencies to spend on programs each year.
President Donald Trump has endorsed a long-term CR, even as appropriators say they have nearly reached a funding topline for military and non-defense programs, making a short-term CR possible.
A short-term CR would avoid a government shutdown and the negative aspects of a six-month funding extension, while giving lawmakers enough time to negotiate, finalize, and pass the dozen appropriations bills updating funding levels for federal agencies.
Congress’ tight spot on government funding results from how long Republican lawmakers took to agree on the $4.5 trillion congressional budget resolution, a domestic policy blueprint that lays out limits on spending for President Donald Trump’s policy priorities.
Another hurdle for Republicans was Democrats’ stalling on an omnibus top line number unless the appropriations package included a measure to ban the president from touching any approved funding from Congress.
Democrats are fundamentally opposed to a long-term CR, which does not include as many guardrails against the president repurposing federal spending.
House Appropriations committee Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., accused Republicans of “trying to pass a power grab full-year continuing resolution that would be a blank check for President Trump.”
Republican leaders are also facing pushback from some members of their own party – including fiscal hawk Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has vowed to oppose a long-term CR – but are working to persuade the hardliners that a CR is better than the alternative, a shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is reportedly set to bring the CR to the floor for a vote Tuesday. Johnson is banking on the threat of a shutdown motivating enough Democrats to vote for the bill. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has already said he will vote for a CR to keep the government open.
If the long-term CR passes, extending current funding until Sept. 30, the federal government will end up going a full year without having implemented comprehensive funding legislation.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget called lawmakers’ CR plan “a mockery of the budget process” that is “starting to feel like fiscal sabotage.”
“It’s not just that they [Congress] miss the occasional deadline, they don’t make a single one,” CRFB President Maya MacGuineas said. “They borrow for new spending and tax cuts, when what the nation needs is a debt reduction plan. And they ignore every single one of their own budget constraints…We must do better.”
