Senate negotiators look at dueling options to avert government shutdown
Top appropriators are still in search of a deal to fund the government with 10 days until a shutdown deadline, as talk in the Senate turn to two possibilities for stopgap spending bills.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Monday told reporters that negotiators are working on dual tracks: either a full-year continuing resolution (CR) lasting through the end of September or a monthlong measure to give appropriators more time to hammer out a yearlong overall deal.
The remarks come after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said over the weekend that he was planning on the first option, which has also won the support of President Trump.
This, however, has led to increased grumbling from Senate Democrats who are displeased with the possibility and are accusing Republicans of shutting them out of talks as the clock ticks to the March 14 deadline.
“That is a surrender,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. “To walk away from the possibility of a bipartisan discussion giving us the appropriations bills is surrendering the opportunity is there.”
Durbin added that there need to be “some developments” for a shutdown to be avoided.
Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations panel, also threw her weight behind a short-term measure to give members more time to hammer out a deal.
“We are looking at a number of different things,” she told reporters at a press conference, pointing specifically to a short-term item. “The only one who wants a shutdown right now is Elon Musk. He’s tweeted he wants one. Nobody else wants a shutdown. We are all working to get this done.”
That possibility would also give defense hawks a shot in the arm as they have long been critical of funding the government through repeated continuing resolutions, which they view as harmful to the military and defense capabilities.
To some top Republicans, the entire goal is simply to avoid a costly shutdown as the party looks ahead to its push to pass Trump’s ambitious tax agenda via budget reconciliation in the coming months.
“Had [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)] not refused to bring appropriations bills to the floor last year, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told The Hill. “My goal is to keep the government open, and that’s the Republican goal as well.”
Across the Capitol, top House Republicans are hoping to release text for the pending CR this weekend in order to comply with the chamber’s 72-hour rule to allow members adequate time to review the text.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said the bill would not include any cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with some of those being eyed for 2026 spending proposals instead.
He also noted that the Democratic push to include language that would assure them that the Trump administration will fully use the funding included in any new spending bill is a no-go.
"Democrat leadership remains laser focused on restricting presidential authority. It's a non-starter and battle they lost to the American people,” Cole said in a statement.
No matter how Republican leaders slice it, they will need Democratic votes in both chambers to fund the government. In the House, where the GOP maintains a one-vote edge, multiple Republicans, including some moderates, have already indicated they will not vote for a full-year measure. And Democratic votes would be needed to overcome the Senate filibuster.
For now, negotiators are still trying to find their way out of the funding maze they remain stuck in, with Johnson seemingly set to move ahead on the full-year push.
“That’s certainly an option that’s out there,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.
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