Top Republican appropriators both said Monday they are pursuing a “two-track strategy” for avoiding a shutdown in less than two weeks — a sign that the lead negotiators in government funding talks aren’t ready to give up on getting a yearlong deal even as President Donald Trump has called for a stopgap measure.
The announcements from Rep. Tom Cole and Sen. Susan Collins — the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee, respectively — come as GOP leaders have already said they plan to move a short-term funding bill in the coming days after rejecting Democrats’ demands for new language to stop Trump and Elon Musk from withholding congressionally approved spending.
Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, insisted in a statement Monday that he is still “at the negotiating table” to reach a cross-party compromise, describing his pursuit of a “two-track strategy” as one that would involve drafting a stopgap spending measure to avoid a shutdown on March 14 alongside continued talks to reach a full-year funding deal.
Collins, a Republican from Maine, told reporters she and her counterparts were preparing a “yearlong” continuing resolution, or CR, “but we’re also working on a short-term CR that would allow us time to negotiate the appropriations bills.”
House Republican leaders say they will unveil, as soon as this weekend, the text of a lengthy stopgap to run through the end of September. The plan has incensed Democrats, whose votes will be needed in both chambers to get any funding bill to Trump’s desk before government funding runs out in the coming days.
The Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, Washington Sen. Patty Murray, said in a brief interview Monday afternoon that she was “absolutely” shocked that Republican leaders were preparing a such a funding patch.
“I would be a no vote,” Murray said about the stopgap House Republicans are aiming to release by Saturday or Sunday.
The White House’s request for special exceptions in the funding patch “is completely inadequate,” Murray said. A 10-page document, called an “anomalies” list, details extra funding the Trump administration is seeking for programs like the WIC nutrition assistance program for pregnant women and babies, immigration enforcement efforts and military pay increases.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a senior appropriator, agreed that lawmakers are “very close” on a deal for setting overall funding totals for military and non-defense programs, and thinks a bill can be put together “relatively quickly.”
“I don’t see any reason to just give up the process,” Schatz said Monday. “There are appropriators on both sides of the aisle that want a short-term CR to give us a chance to exercise our authority.”
Cole, in his statement, said it was not a lack of progress on getting an accord on “topline” totals but rather Democrats’ continued instance that any funding package include language to reign in Trump and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“We are at a point in the process where a topline number is not the roadblock,” Cole said. “Democrat leadership remains laser-focused on restricting presidential authority. It’s a non-starter and battle they lost to the American people.”
Democrats, meanwhile, continue to blame Republicans for the fact that negotiations are at risk of a major impasse.
“We’ve had no conversations with Republican leadership, and have had no outreach from the Trump administration,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday evening. “If they decide to go it alone because they have the House, the Senate and the presidency, then they’re probably driving us towards a government shutdown.”
Jeffries added that he hasn’t yet heard from Speaker Mike Johnson to discuss a path forward.
“Republicans have walked away from the negotiating table, which is really unbelievable,” House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told a small group of reporters.
She also called a yearlong CR “very detrimental.”
Katherine Tully-McManus and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
