Congress trying to avoid partial gov't shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — As House members finished voting for the week and left Washington, the lead Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, voiced frustration that Republicans had yet to respond to her latest offer on a full-year spending bill, even though it had been made five days earlier. Meanwhile, her Republican counterpart outright dismissed Democratic efforts to include assurances in the legislation that funding approved by Congress would be spent by President Donald Trump's administration as lawmakers intended. "A Republican Senate and a Republican House are not going to limit what a president can do, particularly when he has to sign the bill," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. The exchanges demonstrate the divides that remain as the nation approaches a March 14 deadline to avoid a partial federal government shutdown. Such deadlines have become commonplace in recent years with lawmakers almost always working out their differences in the end, or at least agreeing to a short-term funding extension. But with Republicans now in charge of the White House and Trump sidestepping Congress on previous funding decisions, a more contentious dynamic has emerged during negotiations, raising questions about whether lawmakers will avoid a shutdown this time. Here's a look at where things stand. First things first: How much to spend? The stage for the current negotiations was set nearly two years ago when then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then-President Joe Biden worked out a two-year budget deal that would essentially hold non-defense spending flat for 2024, while boosting it slightly for defense. The agreement provided for 1% increases for both in 2025. Democrats want to adhere to that agreement, which would bring defense spending to about $895.2 billion and non-defense to about $780.4 billion. Republicans are looking to spend less on non-defense programs. Cole has argued Republicans are not bound to an agreement negotiated by two men no longer in office. It's unclear how much the two sides disagree on an overall spending amount. But Sen. Patty Murray, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said they weren't far apart. "We are close on topline spending, but we need to know Republicans are willing to work with us to protect Congress' power of the purse — and I welcome any and all ideas they may have on how we can work together to do just that," Murray said. With Trump and Musk slashing government, Democrats want guarantees Trump pushed early to pause grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars while his administration conducted an across-the-board review of federal programs. A subsequent memorandum purported to rescind the pause. Still, a federal judge issued an order earlier this week as a backstop. The preliminary injunction continued to block the pause. The judge said the freeze had "placed critical programs for children, the elderly, and everyone in between in serious jeopardy." Meanwhile, Trump has empowered Elon Musk to help engineer the firing of thousands of federal employees and potentially shutter entire agencies created by Congress. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to appropriate money and requires the executive to pay it out. A 50-year-old law known as the Impoundment Control Act makes that explicit by prohibiting the president from halting payments on grants or other programs approved by Congress. Democrats have sought to place in the spending bill some guarantees the administration would follow what Congress intended. "What we've been talking about is the numbers, and we're talking about the issue of assurances," DeLauro said. "It's trying to make it possible to have the money go as intended." But Republicans are making clear that's a non-starter. "Democrats are placing completely unreasonable conditions on the negotiations. They want us to limit the scope of executive authority. They want us to tie the hands of the president," House Speaker Mike Johnson said. Why is Congress so late? The current fiscal year began in October, so lawmakers are already five month late. Trump complained Thursday on Truth Social, blaming Biden, saying he "left us a total MESS." "The Budget from last YEAR is still not done. We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill ("CR") to the end of September. Let's get it done!" But it was congressional Republicans who opted in December to hold over budget negotiations for a few months, largely because Trump would be in the White House. Johnson on Fox News in December urged a short-term extension so "we get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. That's when the big changes start." What happens if they can't reach an agreement? The first fallback option is the continuing resolution Trump endorsed, a stopgap measure that would generally fund federal agencies at current levels. "It looks as though it is becoming inevitable at this point," Johnson said, blaming Democrats. That will be tough for defense hawks to accept, as many Republicans already consider the Pentagon to be underfunded. But it will also be tough for Democrats who worry that funding for housing programs, child care, nutrition assistance and other services is failing to keep pace with inflation, fraying the safety net for many Americans. Murray and DeLauro issued a joint statement Friday morning, saying they hoped Republicans would return to the negotiating table and that "walking away" from bipartisan talks "raised the risk of a shutdown." They also said the continuing resolution being pursued by Republicans would "give Trump new flexibility to spend funding as he sees fit." "While Elon Musk has been calling for a shutdown, Democrats have been working to pass bills that make sure Congress decides whether our schools or hospitals get funding — not Trump or Musk," the two Democratic lawmakers said. The White House has submitted to lawmakers a list of what are referred to as "anomalies" that it wants to see added to a continuing resolution. For example, it wants an additional $1.6 billion to increase pay for junior enlisted service members by an average of 10% effective April 1. Congress has also supported a pay increase in previous legislation. The White House is also seeking $485 million for more immigrant detention beds and for removal operations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The request also seeks to give Trump more flexibility on how money within certain departments is spent. For example, the White House wants language allowing $30 billion in Department of Defense transfers. Democrats will want to negotiate some of the changes the White House is seeking, adding to the uncertainty of reaching a final agreement. Republicans likely need votes from the other side Getting spending bills over the finish line has required support from both parties. Some Republicans never vote for continuing resolutions. Nearly three dozen House Republicans voted against the last one in December, and they now only have a one-vote cushion to work with in the House if Democrats withhold their support. If talks break down completely, funding for agencies will end at midnight March 14. Both parties will pin the blame on the other — and some of that is already happening. Trump is no stranger to shutdowns. He presided over the longest one in the nation's history, one that lasted 35 days, with Trump relenting only after intensifying delays at the nation's airports and another missed payday for hundreds of thousands of federal workers brought new urgency to resolving the standoff.