What to know about the current funding crisis

Current Funding Status

The federal government is currently operating under a continuing resolution that Congress passed on Dec. 20. 2024. It authorized FY 2024 funding to continue through Friday, March 14, 2025.

Republican Proposal for a Full-Year CR

Republicans, urged on by President Donald Trump, are proposing to extend that CR through the end of the 2025 fiscal year (September 30); it would, essentially, maintain the same levels of funding, with some “anomalies” added in, including slight increases in spending on defense and border security and cuts to some non-defense allocations.

House Passes the CR

The House passed the CR on Tuesday 217-213, with one Republican voting no and one Democrat voting yes. It only needed a simple majority for passage because Republicans were able, before its consideration, to pass a rule for bringing it to the floor. In situations when the majority can’t pass a rule, a bill can only be passed under a suspension of the rules, in which case a two-thirds majority is needed for the bill’s passage on the floor. This was the case with both CR’s passed by the House in Sept. and Dec.; opposition by conservative Republicans prevented passage of a rule, and House GOP leadership then needed the cooperation of Democrats – which they got – to obtain the needed two-thirds majority.

Breakdown of Negotiations

Democratic and Republican appropriators negotiated for months to try to agree on topline spending numbers that would have allowed for FY ’25 funding to be approved through normal appropriations bills. Republicans claim Democrats “overplayed their hand” and demanded too much in terms of restricting President Trump’s executive authority to potentially re-direct some of the funding within agencies. Democrats say it was critically important to include language that would prevent the executive branch from infringing on Congress’s constitutional right to control spending.

Senate Vote and Challenges

60 votes will be needed to pass the CR in the Senate. Republicans occupy 53 seats in the Senate, but at least one senator, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, has already said he plans to vote no, meaning 8 Democrats will need to join Republicans if the CR is to pass. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is, so far, the only Democrat to commit to voting yes.

Senate Negotiations Ongoing

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday morning that Republicans and Democrats have made initial contact about a possible way out of the looming government shutdown set to hit overnight Friday.

Thune said his staff “has been in touch” with Democratic leadership aides. He appeared open to allowing Democrats a chance to vote on an amendment for a 30-day stopgap as part of a larger agreement that would allow the Senate to pass the House-approved seven-month funding patch.

Coming to a deal, he said, "probably depends on whether or not they want to vote on the [House-passed continuing resolution] and how soon they want to do it."

Thune said in a subsequent interview that Democrats had not yet made a formal offer and that he had not spoken directly to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "I think they're still trying to figure out what their plan is, what their path forward is," he added.