House unveils stopgap measure to keep the government funded, with days to avert shutdown
Washington — House Republicans unveiled a stopgap measure to keep the government funded through September on Saturday, setting up a vote next week on the measure that would avert a government shutdown. But with less than a week before the deadline, its path to passage remains unclear.
The 99-page continuing resolution, or CR, would increase defense spending, along with additional funding for veterans' health care, while decreasing non-defense spending below 2024 levels. The bill also includes more funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The House Rules Committee is expected to consider the measure on Monday, with a floor vote expected Tuesday.
President Trump applauded Republicans on social media Saturday saying "under the circumstances" the House and Senate have put together a "very good funding Bill." He said all the GOP should stay unified and vote "yes" next week.
"Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can't let that happen," he said on Truth Social.
Facing a March 14 deadline to fund the government, House Republicans have been moving forward with a plan to keep spending at current levels for the next six months. But Democrats, who have stepped in to help keep the lights on several times in recent years, aren't eager to come to the GOP's aid this time around. Instead, House Speaker Mike Johnson has been looking to secure the support of a number of consistent Republican holdouts — a group of hardliners who oppose stopgap measures to fund the government on principle.
Some of the hardliners met with Mr. Trump at the White House on Wednesday. After the meeting, the president wrote on Truth Social that "Conservatives will love this Bill," encouraging his party to get it done.
Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican who often opposes continuing resolutions, told reporters Thursday that the president believes a continuing resolution is necessary to "stop Democrats from playing games."
"You're telling me as a conservative, you're going to freeze spending for six months, hold the defense hawks at bay, get everybody in a room and keep getting DOGE transparency and demonstrating all the waste, fraud and abuse that we can then use to go inform FY '26," Roy said. "I'm good with that."
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a moderate Republican who hails from a swing district, said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that he hasn't decided how he will vote on the bill, while noting more broadly that "it remains to be seen whether the votes are there or not."
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters Thursday that he expects the resolution will have the votes for passage, outlining that he doesn't anticipate additional no votes among his conference beside Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Mr. Trump on Monday called for Massie to be primaried over his no vote.
As for Democrats, Johnson said he's hopeful they will vote in favor of the stopgap measure, saying "the responsible thing is to keep the government funded."
"If it's a clean CR with minimal anomalies that are necessary, I don't know how they have an argument to vote against it," Johnson added.
Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders said Friday that they are opposed to the "partisan" stopgap measure, citing concerns about "funding for healthcare, nutritional assistance and veterans benefits through the end of the current fiscal year."
"That is not acceptable," they wrote in a letter to the Democratic caucus on Friday. "House Democrats would enthusiastically support a bill that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans health and Medicaid, but Republicans have chosen to put them on the chopping block to pay for billionaire tax cuts. We cannot back a measure that rips away life-sustaining healthcare and retirement benefits from everyday Americans as part of the Republican scheme to pay for massive tax cuts for their wealthy donors like Elon Musk. Medicaid is our redline."
The House Democratic leaders — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Katherine Clark and caucus chair Pete Aguilar — said in a statement after the CR's release that the measure exposes the American people "to further pain throughout this fiscal year."
"We are voting No," the leaders said.
Should the stopgap bill make it through the House, it would next head to the Senate for passage. With a 53-seat Republican majority in the upper chamber, support from at least seven Democrats would be needed to approve the measure and send it to the president's desk.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, called the measure in a statement Saturday a "slush fund continuing resolution that would give Donald Trump and Elon Musk more power over federal spending." She urged lawmakers to pass a shorter-term continuing resolution and finish work on new funding bills, instead of "turning the keys over to the Trump administration with this bill."
