Last week, sparks flew between President Donald Trump and the Democrats during his joint address to Congress. Rep. Al Green of Texas stood up to confront the president during Trump’s speech, which led to him being censured by the House of Representatives. Other Democrats walked out of his address during a chaotic joint address that Trump chose to turn into one of his campaign rallies.
But that might have been the opening match for the main event this week: Preventing a government shutdown. It will prove the mettle of whether Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson can hold together the Republican conference and, just as important, whether Democrats will stand up to Trump or roll over lest Trump blame them for a shutdown.
Typically, Republicans hate voting for continuing resolutions because they see them as shirking the responsibilities of writing proper appropriations bills and, more importantly to them, actually cutting spending.
When Kevin McCarthy passed a continuing resolution against the objections of conservatives in his conference in 2023, a handful of them rebelled and teamed up with Democrats to remove him. Late last year, House Republicans opposed a continuing resolution after Elon Musk raged against the bill and said the government should remain closed until Trump came into office.
In all of these instances, Republican speakers of the House typically learn that after going a few rounds with conservatives, nothing they propose will be enough for hardliners. They then slunk off to the Democrats to bail them out via a “clean CR,” which is to say, a continuing resolution that keeps spending at the same levels to allow for more time to negotiate the final spending bills.
Johnson wants something different this time, largely to keep the family happy. This weekend, House Republicans released a 99-page continuing resolution to keep the government open until the end of the year.
But this stopgap spending bill is not a “clean CR,” primarily because it either slashes major government programs. Specifically, the continuing resolution would slash spending for various tribal assistance grants for Native Americans and various Department of Energy programs. It would also zero out money for community policing and other programs that Democrats like.
So far, he’s gotten Trump on his side when it comes to the continuing resolution, which would help him shore up support from his conference, lest they want to oppose the president of their party.
“All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week,” he said on Truth Social on Saturday. “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.”
But, unsurprisingly, Democrats have rejected the legislation, specifically calling out cuts to veterans' programs.
“Equally troublesome, the legislation does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while exposing the American people to further pain throughout this fiscal year,” Jeffries said in a statement. “We are voting No.”
The “We” is a fairly powerful promise, indicating that the entire House Democratic caucus will be united against the continuing resolution. But in the end, the legislation has a good chance of passing if all Republicans fall in line -- which has become increasingly common in the Trump presidency.
The real test will be in the Senate, where the bill needs to clear 60 votes. Typically, Democrats swallow continuing resolutions, however unsavory they are, because they oppose shutdowns on principle. Shutdowns mean vital programs that they support lose funding, even for a brief period.
The government runs out of money on Friday and both chambers of Congress leave next week for a much-anticipated recess.
This will serve as a major test for both Republicans and Democrats. For Republicans, it will be a test of whether Johnson can use Trump effectively to get everyone to unite behind him as he hopes to tee up the real policy he wants to pass: the budget reconciliation that beefs up Pentagon spending, energy and border spending as well as extending the Trump tax cuts. For Democrats, the question comes whether they can band together to oppose Trump’s legislation without being blamed for a government shutdown.
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