House Democrat leaders warned Friday that they would not support a long-term extension of current funding levels.
Minority leaders Hakeem Jeffries (NY), Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) and Coucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (California) said the Republican bill was an effort by “partisans.”
“That's not acceptable,” Democrats wrote in a letter to fellow House Democrats on Friday.
Before government funding runs out on March 14, lawmakers are competing to avoid the closure.
Friday's letter amplifies a similar warning Jeffries delivered on Capitol a day ago.
Democrats are a minority in the House, but their opposition to the spending bill could sink efforts. Because Republicans make up a hairline majority and some GOP lawmakers have not violated their support for the proposal.
These dynamics are putting pressure on speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to integrate his fighting meeting behind the spending bill known as the Continuing Resolution (CR) that extends funds for 2024 until September.
Johnson predicted Thursday that he would do just that.
“I think we'll pass it along the party line, but I think all Democrats should vote for CR,” he told reporters at Capitol Hill.
Democrats are critical of the CR strategy as they want to fund the government at a higher level, established under the Fiscal Liability Act (FRA), which was supported by the parties in 2023.
The parties and top budgeters in both rooms are in discussions for several months to ensure transactions complying with the higher 2025 figures. However, Johnson abandoned this effort and instead chose to maintain the 2024 level for the next six months. Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma, chair of the Appropriations Committee, said this week he was supporting the plan.
“We're not going to go through the CRS every two weeks,” Cole told reporters Wednesday. “The speakers are very insisting on going all the way through September. I agree with that decision.”
Democrats disagree, and they hope their opposition to CR pushes Republicans back to the negotiation table.
“Rosa Delauro, the top Democrat on the Approximate Budget Committee, is ready to negotiate a meaningful, bipartisan spending agreement that puts working people first,” the leader wrote.
Democrats accused the Republican CR plan of being part of a broader strategy to cut funding for federal programs to offset an extension of President Trump's tax cut promises. They warned that major social welfare programs are inevitable.
“Hospital Democrats are enthusiastic about bills protecting Social Security, Medicare, Veterans Health and Medicaid, but Republicans have chosen to put them in the chopping block to pay billionaires' tax cuts,” the leader wrote.
“We cannot support measures that rip off the benefits of healthcare and retirement that will take lives from everyday Americans as part of a Republican scheme to pay massive tax cuts for wealthy donors like Elon Musk,” they added.
“Medicaid is our redline.”
