gotchanewsdaily.com 
CNN
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Democrats are rejecting House Republicans’ plan to pass a stopgap spending bill through the end of September, raising the specter of a government shutdown in President Donald Trump’s first 100 days and setting up a test of how far Democrats are willing to go to counter his administration.
Top Democrats in the House and Senate are sharply opposed to Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy for a six-month funding extension, insisting it would give even more leeway to Trump and Elon Musk to slash government programs. They also fear that agreeing to the GOP’s lengthy extension could weaken some of the only leverage they have in a GOP-controlled Congress, and could potentially damage an argument in court cases challenging the White House’s spending actions.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called the GOP’s plan for a one-year funding extension “a non-starter” and predicted Democrats would be “unified in opposition.”
“You’re in charge. And we’ve tried to negotiate,” DeLauro said, insisting it’s the GOP’s responsibility to fund the government since they control both chambers of Congress. “Elon Musk wants a shutdown. Why? Because then it’s carte blanche — open parks, get rid of EPA, no research. It’s carte blanche. He is for that.”
Republican leaders still believe that Democrats will ultimately fold in the face of a possible shutdown after the March 14 deadline and deliver the votes to help a funding bill reach Trump’s desk.
With Republicans in control of Washington, Democrats are limited in what they can do, but Republicans will need their votes to pass a spending bill through Congress, creating an opportunity for the party locked out of power to make demands and potentially extract concessions.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have not yet communicated a plan to their members. Yet Democrats appear emboldened at a moment in which they have few other options to stand up to the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink government, fire federal workers and shutter the work of agencies Congress already funded. And many Democrats argue that Republicans – not Democrats – would face public backlash for shutdown because they control the House, Senate and White House.
“They run around telling everybody they have this great big mandate. Well, put on your mandate pants and pass what you want. If you want to work with us then they know what they have to do,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
California Rep. Juan Vargas said Democrats are in no mood to help bail out Republicans when they are focused on trying to fight against billionaire giveaways.
“They want us to be part of that? Hell no. We’d rather close down the government. And I think that’s where we’re headed. Because they don’t want to compromise,” Vargas said.
If Democrats remain dug in, Johnson would need to deliver the votes for his so-called clean continuing resolution with Republican support alone. But with a small majority — and two Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Tony Gonzales of Texas, already opposed – Johnson may fall short of the votes he needs to execute on that plan, too.
Democrats say their preference is to force Johnson into a shorter-term spending bill that would allow appropriators to finish full-year spending bills and could give them more leverage to ensure Congress – not the administration – has power to dictate how federal funds are used.
“We are in a position to enact an appropriations bill and we need a little more time so why wouldn’t we buy ourselves a little more time. There actually is no need for this brinkmanship,” Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democratic appropriator from Hawaii, said.
Privately, House GOP leaders acknowledge it will be difficult to pass the plan without Democratic votes and are leaning hard on their conservatives — with help from the White House — to back it. Trump’s budget director, Russ Vought, made the case behind the scenes to Freedom Caucus members on Monday night, arguing that the government needs to stay open for the work of DOGE to continue, according to a person in the room.
The next morning, Rep. Andy Harris, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told CNN that he would support it “because the president wants it.” And a group of House conservatives are planning to meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.
The GOP plan would essentially put government spending on autopilot for the next six months, alongside some small adjustments or “anomalies,” such as funding for certain military projects. But Democratic leaders say they would reject that extension because it doesn’t carry the usual legal constraints that come with bipartisan, negotiated packages — such as requiring the White House to abide by Congress’s funding wishes, according to multiple people familiar with those high-level discussions.
And if the White House chooses not to fund certain agencies or programs, Democrats insist they will have a weaker legal argument to challenge that in court.
Democratic leadership circulated a memo outlining the argument against a full-year stopgap over the weekend. The seven-page memo drafted by Sen. Patty Murray, which was obtained by CNN, labeled Trump’s plan as a “power grab” that would allow Trump and Russ Vought to turn off cash for blue states for “whatever vindictive or punitive reason they think up” while giving them authority over “large slush funds” for any new money.
“Congress should not pass a full-year CR that would cede immense discretion and authority to President Trump, Elon Musk, and Russ Vought to zero out programs and redirect funding as they see fit,” the memo states.
Republicans, though, are making clear that they are not adding what they view as “poison pill” language to attempt to win Democratic votes.
“We’re going to write a CR that’s non-objectionable to every quarter as we can make it, whether you’re in the Freedom Caucus or in the Democratic caucus. We’re not trying to put 40 pills in, trying to hide anything. We’re not trying to fool you. I don’t want to give you an excuse to vote no,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole told reporters, adding that it would include no new language on DOGE.
“We’re not putting any DOGE cuts in the CR,” the Oklahoma Democrat said.
Negotiators still have more than 10 days to find a path ahead but senior Democrats are warning that the full-year stopgap would not be acceptable even if it doesn’t include cuts that would enshrine DOGE, as Johnson previously floated.
Democrats have been cautious in their messaging around the upcoming deadline, with top lawmakers stressing that Republicans are the ones in charge of Washington. But behind the scenes, many Democrats are insisting that they are not afraid of political ramifications and believe voters will blame Trump and the GOP for any fallout.
The Schumer memo is a key signal that Democrats are preparing their members to dig in on the fight, though it remains unclear whether a handful of Democratic senators would join Republicans to avert a shutdown.
There are other signs around the Capitol that a government funding clash is coming: Some House offices have made temporary changes to their payroll to ensure that staff can be paid in advance in case of a shutdown, and one group of congressional staffers saw a pre-planned trip canceled for the weekend of March 15.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi, Annie Grayer and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
