House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made the rounds on major news networks on Sunday, saying he wants to pass a “clean” continuing resolution to fund the government through September — the end of the fiscal year.
As he pushed for the new plan — dropping all talk of a bipartisan funding agreement and pushing forward with a stopgap bill that would fund the government at current levels — Johnson tried to blame Democrats for GOP leaderships’ own change of heart.
“Why?” Johnson asked rhetorically after pushing for the “clean CR” option on Fox News. “Because the Democrats in Congress were trying to demand that as a condition of appropriations, that we would somehow tie the hands of the President, limit his authority, put Elon Musk in a corner and take him off his mission. We’re not doing that. That’s a non-starter, and Democrats know that, so I hope they’ll be reasonable.”
Johnson is referring to a request congressional Democrats involved in the funding negotiation process have made in response to the Trump administration and DOGE taking a sledgehammer to federal funds that have already been allocated by Congress.
Democrats say in order for them to support passing legislation — either a CR or a bipartisan spending bill — to keep the government funded past the March 14 deadline, they’d need some sort of guarantee that Trump and Musk will stop rescinding and withholding congressionally approved funding and spend federal funds the way they were appropriated.
“Let’s be clear, the Democrat demand is really simple,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told TPM last week, with a mocking emphasis on the word “demand.” “It’s that the President commits to following the law. That’s it. It’s not a big deal … The guardrails that we are asking for are really minimal. It’s just: spend the money as we all appropriated,”
In response to Johnson’s “clean” CR plans, as well as the finger pointing and refusal to consider Democrats’ request — that the President follow the law — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused Republicans of walking away from government funding talks ahead of the looming shutdown deadline.
“The top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rosa De Lauro, remains ready, willing and able to talk with our Republican colleagues, but there has been zero outreach from the Trump administration and House Republicans have walked away from the negotiating table,” Jeffries said in a Sunday afternoon statement.
Reacting to Johnsons’ “clean CR” push, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) also made it clear he won’t be onboard.
“I will not vote for a clean CR. I will not vote for the status quo,” Moskowitz said in a X post on Sunday.
I will not vote for a clean CR. I will not vote for the status quo. https://t.co/V0AiDphoS9 pic.twitter.com/VEdmD99Rmt
— Jared Moskowitz (@JaredEMoskowitz) March 2, 2025
The reality is Republican leadership will almost certainly need Democrats to pass a clean stopgap to fund the government through September and avoid a shutdown.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-OH), who voted against the last CR Johnson worked out with President Joe Biden and Democrats, said he’d be a “no” on funding the government at current levels.
“I am a NO on the CR,” Gonzales said in an X statement. “Congress needs to do its job and pass a conservative budget! CR’s are code for Continued Rubberstamp of fraud, waste, and abuse.
I am a NO on the CR. Congress needs to do its job and pass a conservative budget! CR’s are code for Continued Rubberstamp of fraud, waste, and abuse.
— Tony Gonzales (@TonyGonzales4TX) March 2, 2025
It is likely more GOP hardliners, notoriously allergic to short term spending bills, will join Gonzales, dooming Johnson’s “clean” CR vision without the support of Democrats.
