The shutdown blame game is in full swing on Capitol Hill — a tried-and-true negative sign for stalled government funding talks.
State of play: GOP leaders won’t put language in their funding bills to stop President Donald Trump and Elon Musk from clawing back money Congress previously approved — something Democrats have been demanding in exchange for backing a spending deal.
That leaves Democrats with a choice: Give in or force a shutdown after March 14.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in her chamber, said protecting Congress’ power of the purse is “the absolute bare minimum, and it’s frankly not asking a whole lot.”
Still, critically, she insisted Democrats don’t want a shutdown. Her Democratic colleagues aren’t saying they want that outcome, either. Instead, they’re arguing that responsibility for funding the government rests squarely with the Republican trifecta.
Republicans will need at least seven Democratic senators to join them to get any spending plan to Trump’s desk. And the GOP is all but guaranteed to require Democratic help in the House, too. Signs point to party leaders needing at least a short-term stopgap bill to avoid a funding lapse, and Speaker Mike Johnson suggested Wednesday on CNN that a funding patch through the end of the fiscal year could be in play. But House conservatives tend not to support stopgaps as a matter of principle.
The GOP is more than ready to blame Democrats if they don’t help, leaving the minority party to decide whether it’s worth gambling that voters would support a shutdown if it means standing up to Musk and Trump.
Perception is key here, particularly if there’s a prolonged shutdown. If voters blame Republicans for grinding the government to a halt, Democrats grow their limited leverage. But if the GOP succeeds in turning public opinion against Democrats, the minority party will likely have to move quickly to end the shutdown, with little or nothing to show for it.
What else we’re watching:
- Budget resolution update: Majority Leader John Thune said leadership would hold meetings next week to vibe check the House budget and hear what changes Senate Republicans want to make. But Johnson said in the CNN interview Wednesday night that he didn’t expect the Senate to change his budget resolution, and he ruled out some of the steepest potential cuts to Medicaid.
- Labor secretary vote: Lori Chavez-DeRemer is poised to move one step closer to confirmation when the Senate HELP Committee votes at 9:30 a.m. on whether to advance her nomination. Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters the Senate would likely confirm Chavez-DeRemer next week.
- HALT Fentanyl Act in Senate: The Senate Judiciary Committee is marking up legislation this morning that would make tougher sentences for fentanyl traffickers permanent. The House passed its version of the bill earlier this month with significant Democratic support, and it has a good chance of passing the GOP-led Senate.
Lawrence Ukenye and Ben Leonard contributed to this report.