House Republicans have finally released the text of their government funding plan, a seven-week stopgap that keeps the government funded at existing levels while lawmakers finish passing all 12 appropriations bills.
At 91 pages, the “clean” Continuing Resolution extends government funding without partisan policy rides. It also includes $30 million for lawmaker security and $58 million for U.S. Supreme Court judges and members of the executive branch.
“Keeping our government open and working for the American people is not a partisan issue – and this clean, short-term funding extension reflects that,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Tuesday. “[T]his measure prevents the chaos of a shutdown and allows us to stay focused on restoring regular order.”
While the plan would postpone the government shutdown deadline – currently Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2025 – to Nov. 21, it also marks the fourth time in a row that Congress will have passed a CR rather than pass all 12 annual appropriations bills on time.
So far, not a single fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill has passed both the House and Senate, though three partisan funding bills have passed the House and a bipartisan three-bill minibus has passed the Senate. Both chambers must ultimately approve the same text.
Given the bipartisan nature of the minibus, which includes the MilCon-VA, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch funding bills, Republican leaders hope to pair it with the CR. If the minibus passes the House and the CR passes both chambers, agencies covered under the minibus will receive fresh funding and the rest will operate on cruise control.
But while Republicans want to use the CR simply to prevent a shutdown and buy lawmakers time, Democrats are insistent that any government funding deal include healthcare-related policy riders.
After the CR’s release Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., released a joint statement condemning the bill.
“The House Republican-only spending bill fails to meet the needs of the American people and does nothing to stop the looming healthcare crisis,” they stated. “By refusing to work with Democrats, Republicans are steering our country straight toward a shutdown.”
Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but they’ll need at least seven Democratic votes in the Senate for the CR to pass.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the CR-minibus plan the “obvious and necessary step” and said Democrats are “making a big mistake” by turning the government funding process into “a partisan exercise.”
“Predictably and unfortunately, there are some Democrats who are openly pining for a government shutdown,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “Some of them apparently believe that shutting down the government will be some sort of life raft for them so they can regain the support of the American people. I just think that is a fool’s gambit.”
