Dems leave door open to bipartisan govt funding talks; Trump skeptical

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – With the federal government set to run out of money in just a few weeks, House Republicans are scrambling to advance all 12 appropriations bills, even as they acknowledge a short-term funding resolution is the most likely scenario.

House Democrats are open to supporting a Continuing Resolution – which would temporarily keep previous funding levels on cruise control – but only if Republicans “work on a bipartisan solution,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told reporters Wednesday. 

“Republicans know that they need to work with us, and we stand ready to do that,” Aguilar said. “If they want a shutdown, then they have the ability to put one forward. If [President] Donald Trump and House Republicans want a shutdown, they can. But it’s not going to be because of Democrats. We’re at the table, we’re working, and we want to find solutions.”

Lawmakers have until Sept. 30 – the end of fiscal year 2025 – to pass all 12 bills providing annual funding for federal agencies, otherwise, they risk a government shutdown. So far, only two of those bills have passed the House, while a three-bill minibus is the only 2026 appropriations legislation that has passed the Senate. 

Any appropriations bills passed in one chamber must be approved by the other chamber, and even though Republicans control both chambers, they’ll need at least seven Democratic votes in the Senate. But while the appropriations process has progressed bipartisanly in the upper chamber, House Republicans have largely steamrolled Democratic input.

One of the latest House-originated appropriations bills that currently awaits a floor vote has received Democratic ire for trimming the Department of Health and Human Service’s budget by 6% and Department of Education funding by 15%. Aguilar specifically condemned the bill during the press conference, saying it gave Democrats cause for “huge concern.”

The president himself has low confidence that Democrats will support Republican spending plans, many of which fulfill his request to cut costs and deregulate education and health care. 

“We won't have any Democrat votes,” Trump told the press Wednesday. “We could give the greatest budget ever — [a] tax cut of 50%, everybody taken care of. Perfect for women, perfect for men, perfect for minorities, perfect for everything, and we wouldn't get one vote from the Democrats because they've lost their mind.”

“I think the Republicans will vote for an extension,” he concluded.

Given that Congress has less than 28 days to synchronize and pass the rest of the fiscal year 2026 government funding bills (and neither party wants to take the blame for a government shutdown), lawmakers will most likely pass a CR. 

Republican congressional leaders have not officially stated that they plan to do so, however, and it is unclear if a CR would extend funding for a few months or a full year.