Jeffries Says Democrats Won’t Support Short-Term Government Funding Bill

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Lawmakers have until March 14 to avert a government shutdown.

WASHINGTON—House Democrats will not support a measure that would fund the government at current levels, said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (R-N.Y.) on March 6.

“We’ll have a conversation as House Democrats on Tuesday morning when we reconvene in the Capitol,” he told reporters at a press conference.

The government is funded through March 14. Were there not to be an extension of funding, the government would shut down.

“We consistently made clear that top-line numbers were agreed upon in a manner consistent with the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act that Republicans in the House themselves negotiated and supported,” said Jeffries, referring to the 2023 legislation that lifted the debt ceiling and included top-line government funding numbers.

“A year-long continuing resolution is inconsistent with the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act.”

Therefore, said Jeffries, “if Republicans decide to take this approach, as Speaker [Mike] Johnson indicated, it’s his expectation that Republicans are going it alone.”

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Were all Democrats opposed, Johnson could only afford to lose one Republican on a short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), which would put government funding on autopilot.

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) told reporters that Johnson is “going to have to get all the Republicans.”

Whether there will be a shutdown is to be determined, said Hoeven.

“The first test is going to be, can the House pass the CR with just Republicans,” he said.

“Then it comes over here, and I think then there’s a lot of pressure on Democrats because otherwise they’re responsible for the shutdown. So then it could go that way.”

Were House Republicans not able to move the year-long continuing resolution, the question becomes whether they can do a short-term version, said Hoeven.

Johnson has called for a short-term funding bill that would fund the government through September.

“We’re looking to pass a clean CR 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 that President [Donald] Trump’s policies are bringing to the table,” Johnson told NBC’s Meet the Press on March 2.

Johnson told reporters on March 4 that “minimal measures” would be attached to a continuing resolution.

President Donald Trump has also called for a bill to fund the government through Sept. 30.

“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 posted on Truth Social on Feb. 27.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report. 

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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