The top Senate Republican acknowledged Tuesday Congress is “running out of time” to avert a government shutdown, as negotiations appear to have reached an impasse amid resistance from some Democrats threatening to withhold their votes in protest of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s broad spending cuts.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune speaks to members on Feb. 18.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday, “we’re running out of time,” and that lawmakers were “keeping all options on the table,” including possibly passing another continuing resolution, or a short-term deal to keep the existing spending plan in place to give Congress time to work out a new deal.
The current spending plan expires March 14, and the absence of a new plan to continue funding government operations would trigger a shutdown.
During the previous session of Congress, Republicans relied on Democratic support to pass a series of continuing resolutions to avert a shutdown since a group of hardline conservatives refuses to vote for a plan that does not include drastic spending cuts.
With an even thinner Republican House majority this session, thanks to several vacancies, the party can afford to lose just one vote in the House to pass any measure if all Democrats vote against it.
Democrats, angered by the Trump administration’s slashing of government spending and mass layoffs, are showing heightened resistance to the shutdown negotiations, with House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., telling his members in a letter earlier this month that the “illegal” spending cuts must be “choked off in the upcoming government funding bill.”
Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have said they are open to negotiations, calling the idea that Democrats are in favor of a shutdown “laughable” in a floor speech earlier this month, noting “President Trump and Republicans are already shutting down large parts of the government.”
During a government shutdown, non-essential government employees are told to stay home from work until Congress approves a new spending bill, while essential staff—including national security workers—keep working without pay. Certain government services would slow down or grind to a halt, with national parks and other federally run tourist attractions usually shuttered, though Social Security and Medicare would remain unaffected.
Democrats have expressed doubts that the Trump administration will abide by new spending parameters, citing Musk’s and Trump’s sweeping government spending cuts—including to agencies created by Congress—that have prompted concerns they are usurping congressional authority. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., have asked for “an assurance that if there’s going to be Democratic votes, that the president and Elon Musk will follow the law, and they won’t just take our bill that we’ve worked really hard on and rip it up,” Murray told reporters earlier this month. Other Democrats, including Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., have cited the Musk-led cuts as a reason not to approve a short-term spending measure that would continue funding the government at existing spending levels. Moskowitz suggested any Republicans who both support Musk and vote in favor of a continuing resolution could also be exposed to criticism that they are engaging in hypocrisy.
Jeffries told Axios earlier this month, days after his letter to the Democratic caucus, he was “continuing to negotiate a bipartisan agreement” to avert a shutdown, suggesting there was some willingness to work with Republicans. He also told CNN Sunday “we will cross that bridge when we get to it because as we’ve been discussing, we have to stop this reckless Republican budget from going forward,” adding it’s Republicans’ “responsibility to fund the government,” since they control the White House and both branches of Congress. Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told NBC News in a statement earlier this month it is “extremely difficult to reach an agreement,” given the president’s federal funding freeze, which is temporarily blocked by a court order. Other Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., have suggested they will make efforts to avert a shutdown, despite the party’s distaste for Trump’s gutting of the federal workforce. Kaine told “Fox News Sunday” earlier this month, “I don’t think we should be contemplating shutdown.”
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters last week negotiations on a spending agreement “are not going well.” Collins said Democrats have not acknowledged a spending agreement she and House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., presented. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also accused Democrats earlier this month of being “unresponsive” to Republicans’ proposals and said Jeffries appeared to be “trying to set up some sort of government shutdown.” Johnson indicated some optimism in a subsequent interview, telling reporters he believes Republicans will unify to approve a spending plan.
Musk suggested last week he supports shutting the government down, responding “SOUNDS GREAT” to a post on X last week about the possibility. Trump has not publicly weighed in on the March 14 deadline, but he and Musk pushed for a debt limit increase to be included in previous negotiations in December, the last time Congress approved a deal to avert a government shutdown. Republicans ultimately abandoned the debt-limit demand to pass a continuing resolution with bipartisan support, leaving in place the Jan. 21 deadline for when the U.S. hit its debt limit, triggering so-called “extraordinary measures” at the Treasury Department to continue paying the federal government’s bills, which are expected to last through mid-March.
Biden Signs Funding Bill—Averting Government Shutdown (Forbes)