Trump’s Plan to Prevent Government Shutdown

President Donald Trump has an 11th-hour plan to avoid a federal government shutdown—a continuing resolution that would renew government funding until the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30.

The stakes are high, as a shutdown could imperil the fulfillment of his campaign promises.

“As usual, Sleepy Joe Biden left us a total MESS,” wrote Trump on Truth Social, referring to his presidential predecessor.

“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!” he wrote.

Trump’s call for a stopgap measure to provide funding to the government comes as the narrow Republican majorities in Congress face the difficult task of agreeing on a budget resolution.

 Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, already told reporters on Thursday that she was working on a continuing resolution at the White House’s request.

As current government funding expires on March 14, another continuing resolution, which would essentially keep funding levels the same as they are now, would be a quick fix to prevent a shutdown—although Democrats and Republicans disagree on what measures to add on.

The idea seems to have received some support from Republicans in Congress.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that a continuing resolution was the “most reasonable thing to do to ensure that the government is not shut down.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., similarly recognized the CR as a likely outcome Tuesday, saying, “We’re keeping all options on the table, but we’re running out of time.”

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, wrote on X, “I support a CR through the end of the fiscal year to give President Trump more time to continue ridding our government of fraud, waste, and abuse.”

But passing a continuing resolution will be no easy task. Unlike the budget reconciliation process, passing a CR requires 60 votes to end debate.

But with a Republican Senate majority of only 53 to 47, the GOP would have to be able to persuade a number of Democrats to go along.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has said that she and her fellow Democrats are willing to come to the table if guarantees are provided that Trump will not impound funding and will back off of Elon Musk’s anti-bureaucracy measures.

“The only person calling for a shutdown is Elon Musk. That would be very damaging to our country,” she said.

“We are asking for our Republican colleagues to assure us—to give us, you know, the ability to know, when we pass bills, they’re going to be followed by this White House. There is a lot of ways to do that, and we’re looking at all of them.”

Johnson has already signaled his strong opposition to such an arrangement, saying in a Tuesday press conference, “I’m really hopeful that they’ll back off of those outrageous demands, because it’s unprecedented and, I think, probably unconstitutional. And it’s not anything we’ll be a part of.”

Although passing a continuing resolution would be difficult, given the divisions between the two parties, it might be necessary for Trump to pursue it to avoid a bothersome shutdown in the early days of his second term. 

If Johnson and Thune can get their majorities behind a continuing resolution, it will be up to Democrats whether any of them want to vote to end debate and allow for the continuing resolution to pass.

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