Johnson readies for government shutdown fight as Democrats hold out for concessions
Speaker Mike Johnson is hoping to avert a government shutdown next week by peeling off enough Democratic support for a funding bill without the spending cuts that hardline GOPers are demanding.
So far, however, Democrats are not budging — viewing a potential federal stoppage as their biggest hope to extract concessions from Republicans for the next few months.
Congress has until 11:59 p.m. March 14 to pass a measure to keep the government operating at full throttle — and there’s no sign of a deal in sight.
“We’re looking to pass a clean [continuing resolution] to freeze funding at current levels to make sure that the government can stay open while we begin to incorporate all these savings that we’re finding through the DOGE effort and these other sources of revenue,” Johnson (R-La.) told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Conservative Republicans have called for any stopgap measure to include the codification of cuts ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but that is a non-starter for Democrats in Congress.
Republicans currently hold a slim 218-215 majority, meaning Johnson can afford to lose just one vote before needing Democratic help to pass any legislation.
The speaker’s current plan is to keep the government running at current spending levels through the end of fiscal year 2025 on Sept. 30.
Then Republicans would work on codifying the DOGE cuts in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process.
“We are working hard to do our responsibility to keep the government open,” Johnson explained. “For FY26, for the next fiscal year, you’re going to see a very different process and a lot more efficient and effective spending for the people.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has signaled that he’s on board with that plan and said that “all options on the table” to avert a shutdown.
Johnson’s maneuver goes against Congress ‘ regular process for funding the federal government — which involves the passage of 12 separate spending bills, often lumped into an omnibus package, to fund the government each fiscal year.
In recent years, the passage of those 12 appropriation bills has been delayed, necessitating a continuing resolution (CR) to effectively keep government spending going on autopilot. Within the past 18 months, Congress has passed six CRs.
President Trump has publicly called for a stopgap bill through the end of September to give Republicans more time to sort out their fiscal plans.
Some spending hardliners, such as Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), have warmed up to the idea — but not enough have done so.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has indicated that he wants to use the government shutdown fight to extract concessions from Republicans on some of Trump’s executive actions.
“There has been zero outreach from the Trump administration and House Republicans have walked away from the negotiating table,” Jeffries, 54, said in a statement Sunday.
Johnson, meanwhile, has alleged that Democrats up “to this point show no interest in finding a reasonable solution” on the forthcoming shutdown.
Democrats are also annoyed at GOP leadership after they dramatically pared down the last stopgap measure, passed in December during the final weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency.
However the shutdown fight ends, the next possible opportunity for Democrats to get wins from Republicans could come in negotiations over the debt ceiling, which is projected to need an increase by June.
However, Johnson has taken steps to shove a $4 trillion debt ceiling hike into the “big, beautiful” Trump agenda package — which the speaker hopes to get done next month.
After Congress settles the shutdown fight, Republicans will return focus to ironing out the legislation for Trump’s signature agenda package, which has faced many obstacles.
Last week, House Republicans narrowly passed a blueprint needed to start the process of crafting the legislation, but they still have differences to iron out with the Senate GOP.
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