GOP lawmakers clash over strategy to avert government shutdown crisis

Fox News

4 days ago

An intra-GOP battle is already brewing over how to avert a government shutdown before the next fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
House and Senate lawmakers will need to strike a deal on funding the federal government by then – and while that deadline is still weeks away, Congress' August recess means that they have just 14 legislative days with both chambers in session to come to an agreement.
That will be no easy feat, considering both House and Senate Republicans are working with three-seat majorities.
Meanwhile, there's already divisions being sown over the viability of a short-term extension of fiscal year 2025 (FY2025) government funding levels, known as a continuing resolution (CR).
Some fiscal conservatives in the House have suggested they could get behind a full-year CR, an idea that mainstream Republicans and defense hawks have balked at.
"I think we ought to start planning for a full-year CR," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told reporters last week. "A funding freeze in a setting of 2.7% inflation actually is a real cut in the size of the scope of government."
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., a member of the conservative group, told Fox News Digital, "I would be open to that." He added, however, "But really, a CR is kind of a surrender."
Others, like Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., said, "I never like CRs, but we'll see how it plays out."
But one House GOP lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital under the condition of anonymity argued it could have dangerous effects on military funding.
"It's absolutely ridiculous," the lawmaker said. "That destroys our defense. I mean, if it's a CR encompassing everything, that's…contrary to everything they've ever said before. But when has that stopped the Freedom Caucus?"
The idea of extending the previous year's government funding levels has traditionally been anathema to Republicans, particularly in the House, where lawmakers have tried for several years to pass 12 individual, single-subject spending bills.
It's not something that's been accomplished in years, however. And with Republicans having spent months working on President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful" policy bill, GOP lawmakers have acknowledged they've been left with precious little time.
Many of those lawmakers suggested some sort of short-term CR could be likely to give appropriators more time to reach a deal while avoiding a temporary shutdown.
"I mean, we seem to be having trouble getting the appropriations bills moved through, and so we're going to have to do something," Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital. "And I think if we're doing a CR that keeps funding levels close to where they are now, a lot of members of the conference would support that."
One source close to the House Appropriations Committee told Fox News Digital they believe a short-term CR is a likely scenario, but did not mention the prospects of a year.
"I don't know that we're there yet, but if that's the option available, we certainly can't afford any type of government shutdown – especially under full control by Republicans," another member, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, a small group of conservatives is warning they're dedicated to opposing any form of CR.
"I'm not voting for a September 30th CR. That is totally unacceptable," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote on X last week. "I'm giving everyone adequate notice."
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., pointed out FY2025 levels were set under the Biden administration.
"Why would we want to do the Biden policies and budget?" Biggs asked.
And many Senate Republicans scoffed at the idea of doing another government funding extension, let alone a year-long CR. Most want to actually give the appropriations process a shot rather than continue the status quo of last-minute government funding.
"I have no interest in a year-long CR," Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital. "I think Congress needs to actually take the responsibility for looking at spending. I don't think having a CR, which is basically a continuation of a Biden era, is appropriate."
Rounds and other appropriators want to see the process through, something that hasn't been accomplished since the late 1990s. But time is running thin for lawmakers, given that the House is already on recess and the upper chamber may stick around for a portion of August.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, argued that the appropriations process, which has been largely sidelined for years because of CRs, could still work, but warned that it could be undermined by another government funding extension or more rescissions packages from the White House.
"We're going to have an opportunity to be on the floor with an appropriations bill before we go on break for August," she said. "So I refuse to say appropriations is 'pretty broken.'"
So far, the Senate Appropriations Committee has finished work on six funding bills, and moved through a key hurdle for the House's funding bill for military construction and the VA last week. The House of Representatives has passed two of 12 individual appropriations bills, though the two already make up roughly half the discretionary funding Congress must lay out.
Other Republicans similarly do not want to see another funding extension, and would rather focus on passing Trump's roughly $1.7 trillion budget that he submitted to lawmakers earlier this year.
"Hopefully we don't have to go get to a CR, but if we get to a CR, what I don't want is, I don't want some blowout spending bill, which is what we have done since I've been here," Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fl., told Fox News Digital.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., also preferred to tackle Trump's budget, but believed that lawmakers were already "late to the ball."
"I would like to go through a regular order where we consider all 12 of these buckets within the appropriations bill, all 2,400 line items, piece by piece on the floor, and make everybody defend their bridges to nowhere," Marshall said. "I think that'll cut out a lot of the nonsense."