House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is gearing up for a vote on Tuesday on a bill, which, if approved, will avert a partial government shutdown during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s term.
Given the lack of support from Democrats, Johnson is betting Republicans can muscle through largely by themselves on the 99-page piece of legislation that would keep federal agencies funded until Sept. 30.
Congress must act to avoid a partial government shutdown by Friday, March 14. Despite dozens of conservative defections on continuing resolutions over the past two years, Trump on Saturday called for Republicans to unite to support the bill.
‘The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (‘CR’)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week,’ Trump wrote on TRUTHSocial. ‘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. Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen.’
‘We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right,’ Trump added. ‘VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’
Still, some Republicans have already signaled they would not support the CR.
‘I’m not voting for the Continuing Resolution budget (cut-copy-paste omnibus) this week,’ Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., posted to X on Sunday. ‘Why would I vote to continue the waste fraud and abuse DOGE has found? We were told the CR in December would get us to March when we would fight. Here we are in March, punting again! WTFO.’
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., meanwhile, said he has never voted for a continuing resolution, but he is on board with Johnson’s effort. He says he has confidence in Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, to make a difference on the nation’s debt. ‘I don’t like CRs,’ Norman said. ‘But what’s the alternative? Negotiate with Democrats? No.’
In a call with reporters on Saturday, House Republican leadership aides outlined how the bill provides for $892.5 billion in discretionary federal defense spending, and $708 billion in non-defense discretionary spending.
The aides emphasized that the bill was ‘closely coordinated’ with the White House – while stopping short of saying Trump backed the measure completely, noting he has not reviewed the specific pages yet.
It includes an additional $8 billion in defense dollars in an apparent bid to ease national security hawks’ concerns, while non-defense spending that Congress annually appropriates would decrease by about $13 billion.
There is also an added $6 billion for healthcare for veterans.
The White House has requested additional spending in areas that were not present in the last government funding extension, known as ‘anomalies.’ Among the anomalies requested by Trump and being fulfilled by the bill is added funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Aides said the funding is meant to meet ‘an operations shortfall that goes back to the Biden administration.’
‘That money, most of that, has already been obligated prior to the start of this administration. So that request reflects an existing hole,’ a source said.
The bill also ensures that spending caps placed under a prior bipartisan agreement, the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), are followed. The FRA mandated no more than a 1% federal spending increase in FY 2025.
Cuts to non-defense discretionary spending would be found by eliminating some ‘side deals’ made during FRA negotiations, House GOP leadership aides said. Lawmakers would also not be given an opportunity to request funding for special pet projects in their districts known as earmarks, another area that Republicans are classifying as savings.
The bill does not cover the majority of government spending, including Social Security and Medicare. Funding for those two programs is on autopilot and not regularly reviewed by Congress. Still, Democratic leadership issued a statement Saturday saying they were troubled the bill does not take steps to protect those programs and Medicaid, which Republicans are eying to help pay for extending tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term.
‘We are voting no,’ a trio of House Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said.
The top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, both issued statements blasting the legislation.
Murray said the legislation 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.’ DeLauro, in an X post, called the CR ‘a power grab for the White House.’
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the focus must be on preventing a shutdown because closures have negative consequences all across government.
‘They require certain essential government employees, such as Border Patrol agents, members of our military and Coast Guard, TSA screeners, and air traffic controllers, to report to work with no certainty on when they will receive their next paycheck,’ Collins said. ‘We cannot allow that to occur.’
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
