Top Democrats on the House Budget Committee have rejected the idea of a suspension spending bill to fund the government at its current level throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.
The proposal is being driven by President Trump, who supported the “clean” continuous resolution (CR) last week, and President Trump, who supports Mike Johnson (R-La.), who veiled Sunday's news show over the weekend and backed Trump's plans.
However, Rep. Rosa Delauro (D-Conn.) has other ideas. Delauro, a ranking member of the Budget Edition Panel, has been in discussion for several months with both parties and top budgeters in both rooms in search of transactions on 2025 spending. On Tuesday, she rejected the idea of abandoning those talks for the long-term continuation of 2024.
“A year's CR is not a starter,” Delauro told Congressional reporters.
The pushback sets up conflicts between the parties over how to fund the federal government and prevent closures from occurring on March 14, when current spending expires.
A complex factor in the debate was the cost-cutting efforts of Trump, Elon Musk, the so-called Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Last week, Johnson had the idea of incorporating some of these executive-level cuts into Congressional spending plans. But on Sunday he left the plan and proposed a “clean” CR that Trump proposed a few days ago.
“We're going to pass on clean CRs, freeze funds at the current level to make sure the government remains open and start taking in all these savings we've found through these other sources of income that Doge's efforts and President Trump's policies bring to the table.”
On Tuesday, he called Delauro's stance “very unhappy and grossly irresponsible.”
“We're already mid-year and they've made negotiations impossible because they're claiming conditions that they won't meet. “It's the game they're playing because they know that it's not possible or should it be. But if they refuse to vote for funding the government, the closure will be their shoulder.”
But Delauro, along with other Democratic leaders, has expressed concern that Trump is ignoring Congress' intentions in deciding which programs to fund and what courage to decide. They are looking for guarantees for the funding bill to ensure Trump will spend money as it is allocated.
“For me, I'm negotiating negotiations to get away from the table, leave the table and move forward to get my year's bill,” Delauro said. “Long-term CR doesn't benefit anyone. It really changes the power of the wallet – really, it hands it over to the executives.”
Aris Folley and Mychael Schnell contributed the report. Updated at 1:28pm
