Republicans eye full-year CR, while Democrats look to use shutdown fight to stop Trump's firings

Lawmakers are pursuing two different paths to keep the government funded past March 14, though the Republican majority in both chambers is hoping to pass a measure to keep agencies funded at their current levels through September. 

The year-long continuing resolution would allow for only a small number of changes to existing spending levels, which are currently at the same total that agencies received in fiscal 2024. Democratic appropriators are hoping to instead buy more time with a short-term stopgap bill that would allow negotiators to come to a bipartisan agreement on full-year fiscal 2025 funding measures.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he will release the text of a continuing resolution to cover the remainder of fiscal 2025 in the coming days and put it to a vote on the House floor early next week. Johnson will face a narrow margin to pass the measure, particularly as the most conservative members of his caucus rarely vote for CRs of any duration. House Democrats have indicated they will not support the measure. 

President Trump is pushing for the year-long stopgap option and the White House has lobbied Republicans to support that bill. 

Despite Johnson’s plans, top appropriators from both parties in the House and Senate have continued to meet and are closing in on a deal to set the top-line funding levels for regular appropriations bills, according to a source familiar with the talks. They are hoping to finalize that agreement in the coming days to demonstrate that a full-year CR is not the only viable option to avert a shutdown. 

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said this week that a full-year stopgap would be particularly problematic as it would prevent lawmakers from having any avenue to preventing the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency from instituting widespread firings and layoffs across agencies.

“We cannot stand by and accept a yearlong power grab CR that would help Elon take a chainsaw to programs that families rely on and agencies that keep our communities safe,” Murray said.  

When Congress passes appropriations bills rather than a CR, they include “joint explanatory statements” that give added detail on how agencies should spend their allocated money down to the programmatic level. They can often include policy statements that restrict agency actions, such as reorganizations or reshaping of workforces without congressional approval. CRs do not include such directives. 

Some Democrats have indicated they want to use the shutdown fight to push back against the widespread firings of federal employees still in their probationary periods, as well as the upcoming reductions in force that President Trump has ordered. 

“We're in the midst of a budget discussion right now, and we're looking at ways in the budget that we can address some of this,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters last week of Trump administration’s personnel actions. 

Full-year appropriations bills, rather than a full-year CR, would also allow lawmakers to increase funding for both defense and non-defense discretionary sides of the ledger. Congress previously agreed to a two-year budget deal to increase spending levels for defense and non-defense agencies by 1%, but negotiators have yet to reach a deal to set specific funding levels. 

If House Republicans are able to pass the CR next week, it would then head to the Senate and require 60 votes for passage. Some Democrats have indicated they might support the bill, though it is not yet clear whether a sufficient number would do so to ensure passage. 

Lawmakers have until the end of the day on March 14 to keep agencies funded and avoid a shutdown. Murray said she is remaining optimistic her preferred path can win out. 

“I am confident we can get this done,” she said. “I am ready to pass a short-term CR immediately to take down the risk of a shutdown so that we can finish our negotiations and write full-year spending bills.”