Congressional Leaders Negotiate Budgets
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WASHINGTON — With a funding deadline fast approaching, congressional leaders have yet to debate a plan for averting a government shutdown next month.
Top Republicans in control of the chambers have not announced when they intend to schedule consideration of legislation designed to fund government programs without interruption following a mid-March deadline.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chief architect of a government funding plan, indicated this month that negotiations among senior lawmakers remain ongoing. His panel has not revealed details of a fiscal appropriations measure, signaling the potential for continuing resolutions to be introduced. If enacted, continuing resolutions provide short-term federal funding for most agencies.
“We remain engaged in good-faith discussions with the Senate and the [Democratic] minority,” Cole said. “Quickly approaching deadlines remind us that shutdowns benefit no one, and I am steadfastly committed to finishing our work. Congress must do its job and govern in reality. Upholding our fiscal duties and advancing a safer, stronger and more prosperous America remains my focus.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson says his team's goal is to send a bill to President Donald Trump's desk that, among other things, keeps taxes low for American families. (Al Drago/Bloomberg News)
RELATED: House Passes Spending Plan Hours Before Shutdown Deadline
Fellow Republicans agreed with Cole’s remarks. Typically, the congressional appropriations process necessitates about a month to be finalized with bipartisan support. Most operations at the U.S. Department of Transportation and other federal agencies would experience degrees of disruptions if Congress does not approve a fiscal funding package by March 14.
The likelihood of a funding package to lack bipartisan support is growing after Democrats governing in the minority in both chambers continue to push back on GOP-led legislative and budget directives.
The Republican leadership on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, is proceeding with a procedural budget meant to enact most of President Donald Trump’s policy agenda this spring. The budget measure, referred to as a reconciliation bill, is separate from the annual appropriations legislation.
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Major budget reconciliation agenda items propose enhancing border security, military readiness, the social safety net, domestic energy and transportation operations and extending the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts. “This is the start of the process, and we remain laser-focused on ultimately sending a bill to President Trump’s desk which, among other things, secures the border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, restores American energy dominance and makes government work better for all Americans,” said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in a statement this month with his leadership team.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is leading the opposition to the Republican’s budget reconciliation bill. As he put it recently, “Republicans know how unpopular these tax cuts are. I don’t hear them on the floor saying we need to cut the taxes on the richest people in America.”
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“They keep trying to divert and change the subject — just like when Donald Trump tries to change the subject by talking about the Gulf of Mexico, or annexing Canada or building hotels in Gaza,” Schumer went on. “These are all distractions to hide Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republicans’ real goal: Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Republicans are trying to give their billionaire buddies a tax break and have you pay the cost.”
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, explained on Feb. 19: “There is zero chance we are going to let Republicans pass this pro-billionaire budget the easy way, without a fight.”
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“We’re going to put them on the record for everything Trump and Elon are doing to create real fraud, waste and abuse,” she continued.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was formally established by the Trump White House in January. Its objective is to examine the federal apparatus to modernize “federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” The White House executive order establishing DOGE called for it to operate “consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.” Agencies seized by DOGE include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the United States Agency for International Development.
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