Summary
- Congressional Republicans face challenges cutting spending while avoiding government shutdown.
- Passing all 12 appropriations bills before the September 30 deadline remains unlikely.
- House GOP aims for deep non-defense spending cuts; Senate less willing.
- Bipartisan cooperation needed due to Senate filibuster and Democratic opposition.
- Lawmakers may rely on short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open.
Every time the fiscal year (FY) deadline of September 30 draws closer, Republicans have aimed to pass 12 separate appropriations bills, each of which funds a different area of the federal government.
However, since 1996 — FY1997 — that has not occurred, and the partisan climate in Washington has only grown more divisive. The once-dominant appropriations committees in both chambers have virtually disappeared due to recent legislation supported by Republicans.
"When’s the last time we got 12 appropriations bills actually done, and completed in a couple of weeks? It’s almost impossible to do,"
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital last week.
A stalemate between the two houses may arise because the House of Representatives is more generally willing to follow the Trump administration's proposal to reduce $163 billion in non-defense government expenditure than their Senate counterparts.
"It’s looking like it’s going to be higher than what the president’s budget is. And that, I’m not a fan of,"
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital last week.
Another committee Republican, Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., said, "I’m really proud of the work the committee has done so far. I do feel like we’re gonna be able to get these bills done. The question is, what’s the Senate going to do?"
The 60-vote filibuster barrier that most Senate bills must pass further exacerbates tensions between the two sides of the US Capitol.
Senate Democrats have threatened to oppose President Donald Trump's $9 billion rescission package after Senate Republicans cleared it, despite the requirement that all spending measures be bipartisan.
Although Senate Democrats "have signaled that they don’t want one," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., stated that he would want to go with a regular appropriations procedure.
"The Democrats have been very clear,"
he said.
"They are already conferencing the idea of a government shutdown — I don't have any idea, no idea how that is helpful for them or to anyone."
In the past, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, has cautioned that if Republicans were able to pass the rescissions package after excluding Democrats from the budget reconciliation process, they may later struggle to garner enough bipartisan support to pass spending bills while preventing a partial government shutdown.
The Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations subcommittee head, Sen. John Hoeven, told Fox News Digital,
"what would you expect?"
if Democrats intended to stop everything.
"By working with us, that's how they actually will get some of their priorities,"
the North Dakota Republican said.
"But when they're going to just block us, then why should their priorities be included?"
According to a member of the House Appropriations Committee who spoke to Fox News Digital under condition of anonymity, Republican lawmakers are starting to consider the possibility of passing a short-term continuing resolution (CR), which would extend the funding levels from the previous fiscal year in order to keep the government operating.
"You could see a situation where you’re in a short-term CR, and we’ll try to negotiate topline numbers and all that,"
that House lawmaker said.
It’s a situation that House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., didn’t rule out to reporters early last week – while agreeing with Senate Republicans’ concerns about Democrats failing to work across the aisle.
"I'm always worried about a shutdown, because I think the Democrats have a very hard time bargaining with Donald Trump. I mean, that's why we ended up in a CR,"
Cole said, referring to the last round of government funding talks that resulted in a CR from March through the end of FY2025.
"We offered them a much better deal than a CR, and they couldn't do it. So I hope this time they can, but the temperature on the other side is very high, and Democratic voters are punishing their own members for cooperating on things like keeping the government open."
Although no shutdown has resulted from similar standoffs in recent years, that would cause problems with conservative House Freedom Caucus members, who have previously vehemently opposed CRs or "omnibus" budget packages.
Republicans are facing extremely narrow margins of only three votes in both the House and the Senate.
Last week, House Republicans passed their $832 billion defense appropriations measure, marking a significant win. Together with the law financing Veterans' Affairs and military construction, that accounts for almost half of the discretionary budget that the White House asked earlier this year.
However, before Congress returns from its August recess in early September, it is not anticipated that they will have House-wide votes on any of the ten remaining legislation.
The appropriations process and the expected extension of government financing will be tested in the upcoming months as Senate Republicans prepare to discuss their first spending measure on Tuesday, which is for military construction and the VA.
Following the passage of the rescissions package, Senate Appropriations Committee top Democrat Sen. Patty Murray stated her desire for the committee to reconvene and maintain the bipartisan spirit of appropriations.
"It is unfortunate that many members of this body have voted to make that a whole lot harder,"
the Washington state Democrat said.
One senior House GOP lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital ultimately downplayed concerns of a shutdown, however.
"The factors of the Senate wanting more money than the House, Democrats wanting more money than Republicans – those have been in place for a generation. And most of the time, shutdowns don’t happen," that lawmaker said.
"It would seem to me that although the Democrats are mad about Elon and Trump, and reconciliation, at some point, that temperature’s going to fade and people are going to realize that a shutdown doesn’t really serve our national interests."
What are the key approaches of the Republican strategy for cutting spending?
The Senate has already passed a bill that aims to retract approximately $9 billion in previously approved federal funding, primarily targeting foreign aid and public broadcasting (NPR and PBS) . This aligns with President Donald Trump's agenda to reduce what he views as "wasteful spending" . The Trump administration has indicated that more rescission proposals could follow if this initial attempt succeeds .
Broader Budget Cut Proposals House Republicans have unveiled a budget plan that proposes $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years, with a goal of achieving at least $1.5 trillion in cuts . These proposed cuts are expected to target social services, particularly Medicaid, as well as a range of energy, climate, and environment programs .