GOP unveils stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown. They may not have the votes

With just days to go before a government shutdown deadline, House Republicans have released a 99-page stopgap bill they hope will reach President Trump's desk before some government funding runs out on Friday.

It's unclear if they have the votes to approve the plan. Republicans have tight margins in the House and Senate, and may need Democratic votes.

Still, Congressional GOP leaders have conveyed confidence in the move, and they now have President Trump's backing.

"All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country's 'financial house' in order." Trump wrote in a social media post Saturday.

The president argues that passing this funding extension will ease the path toward enacting the rest of his legislative agenda: a massive, partisan spending plan that includes an extension of a tax cut program passed under his first term.

The bill released Saturday will fund the government through Sept. 30 and provide a slight boost to defense spending while making a moderate cut to non-defense programs. That signals Republicans are hoping to pass the bill without substantial Democratic support.

Democrats had previously indicated that any spending changes to defense and non-defense spending would need to go in the same direction, either both increasing or both decreasing.

Republicans will need to stay largely united to pass the plan with tight margins in both chambers. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson may have only one Republican "no" to spare.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie initially said he's planning to vote against the bill, before seeing the text. It doesn't include an overall 1% budget cut, a provision Massie saw included in a House Rules package under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

"I'll vote against a clean CR that funds everything in 2025 at 2024 levels," Massie said on X recently. It is unclear whether the cuts to non-defense spending could earn back his support.

However, other fiscal hawks who had previously sworn off relying on these stopgap bill — also called continuing resolutions or CRs — in lieu of passing complete government funding packages are changing their tunes. The group is a small but meaningful share of the Republicans' razor-thin majority.

Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has changed everything. "I don't like [continuing resolutions]. What's changed is the DOGE commission is coming up with things that the American people are seeing," said Norman, R-S.C. "So that's why ... I'll be voting for it,"

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who has also been an opponent of stopgap bills, is now willing to support a plan that keeps spending at 2024 levels. He made the remarks after a White House meeting with Trump that included other fiscal hawks to discuss the plan.

"I'm open to it," Burchett said. "I want to see what's in it."

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., isn't a fan of stopgap bills himself. However, he recently told NPR it may be the best option with time running out on bipartisan negotiations for a larger spending deal.

"We've tried to lean over backwards to make sure none of our guys submit anything that ... puts the Democrats in tough spot," Cole said of the stopgap bill writing process. "I mean, I don't want them to have the excuse to vote no."

However, Democrats have largely signaled they aren't ready to bail out Republicans this time. In statement Saturday, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro, called the CR a "power grab for the White House."

DeLauro's main complaint is that this longer term continuing resolution halts negotiations for full-fiscal year spending bills.

"By essentially closing the book on negotiations for full-year funding bills that help the middle class and protect our national security, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have handed their power to an unelected billionaire," DeLauro stated, referring to Elon Musk.

House Democrats were also circulating a document, which was obtained by NPR, detailing why they should vote against the GOP's yearlong plan.

Even if Speaker Johnson is able to pass the bill through the House this week without Democratic support, it will still need at least seven Democratic senators to back it in order to clear the chamber's de facto 60-vote threshold and reach the president's desk for a signature.

NPR's Eric McDaniel contributed reporting.
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