President Trump backed congressional Republicans’ plan to extend government funding and wants lawmakers to “get it done” as the deadline approaches.
Top congressional Republicans appear to have coalesced around a plan that would extend government funding levels to September.
“As usual, Sleepy Joe Biden left us a total MESS,” Mr. Trump posted Thursday on social media. “The Budget from last YEAR is still not done. We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill (‘CR’) to the end of September. Let’s get it done!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, agree that an extension until September, which would effectively be a yearlong funding stopgap, is necessary to avert a partial shutdown.
And House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, Maine Republican, are getting on the same page about a yearlong extension.
But the push for a stopgap until September comes as Republican and Democratic negotiators are at an impasse on the next steps for the dozen spending bills that fund the government.
Democrats want to add language to the 12 annual spending bills that would restrict Mr. Trump from ignoring or shifting funding that Congress approves, a demand that Mr. Johnson has argued is unconstitutional.
Still, Democrats are leveraging their support of a government funding extension over that language. Enough Republicans in the House and Senate routinely vote against government funding extensions that Democratic support will likely be needed to avert a shutdown.
Mr. Trump’s input could help those among GOP’s ranks to support a temporary extension, but Republicans will still need Democrats in the Senate to avoid a filibuster of the funding bill.
The last time Mr. Trump waded into a congressional funding conflict was in December, when his demands nearly derailed carefully crafted legislation and plunged the government into a partial shutdown.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.