Democrats Face Decision Point On Shutdown Strategy

Republicans and Democrats are on a collision course over federal spending after GOP leaders ruled out limiting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s ability to claw back congressionally approved funding.

It’s a dynamic that’s ratcheting up fears of a government shutdown in just 17 days.

Democrats are insisting on the guardrails for Trump and Musk amid deep anger on the left about the president’s unilateral dismantling of the federal government. Following a meeting of top GOP appropriators and party leadership Wednesday morning, Republicans officially rejected the proposal.

Democratic leaders now face a dilemma: Do they hold firm, refrain from bailing Republicans out and allow an unpopular shutdown? Or do they fold and risk the ire of liberal voters eager to see the party stand their ground against Trump and Musk? So far, they are treading carefully.

“The red line for us is, are you going to not harm the American people? Are you going to continue to cut Medicaid, to take health care away from our seniors and kids and veterans, or are you not?" said House Minority Whip Katherine Clark in a brief interview. “That is the insurance we're looking for.”

Republicans, despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, are more than ready to blame Democrats for any government shutdown. Democrats in recent years have stepped in and gotten legislation over the finish line as more and more Republicans rail against the stopgap spending bills known as continuing resolutions, or CRs.

“If we do a year-long CR and we pass it and it goes over to the Senate, and the Democrats vote against it, then it will be their fault for closing the government,” Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, chair of the Interior-Environment Appropriations subcommittee, told reporters Tuesday.

Democrats think the premise is absurd in light of the GOP’s control of Congress and its leaders’ unwillingness to rein in their own president, whose unilateral actions to freeze government funding, fire federal workers and dismantle entire agencies are being challenged in court.

“It’s not up to us — it's up to them to decide whether they want to shut the government down,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) of Republicans.

It remains to be seen, however, whether that message will break through if government funding is allowed to lapse for any amount of time, which would be sure to cause major disruptions for working Americans. While tensions have ratcheted up, Democratic leaders are still giving their negotiators some room to work out a deal.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, for instance, deferred to House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut when asked Wednesday whether Democrats could support a funding deal that doesn’t restrain Trump and Musk.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday similarly punted to top Senate Appropriations Democrat Patty Murray, who this week said Democrats “need to know Republicans are willing to work with us to protect Congress’ power of the purse” at an “absolute bare minimum” to reach a funding deal.

Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Wednesday that “Democrats have had completely unreasonable conditions” in the spending talks.

Appropriators have been working for months to try and secure an agreement on aggregate spending levels for the military and for non-defense programs — “toplines” necessary to allow subcommittees to craft the 12 individual appropriations bills to float federal operations for the remainder of the fiscal year.

While negotiators say they closing in on those numbers, reality is sinking in that there likely isn’t going to be enough time before the March 14 deadline to lock in a toplines deal, write the actual spending bills and clear them through both chambers.

Last week, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins said that “we’re running out of time,” but on Wednesday insisted, “we’re still talking.”

If appropriators truly think a deal with new spending bills is possible, they could seek a short term stopgap to buy them more time. There’s also talk of a long-term spending patch to run through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), the ranking member on the House Energy-Water appropriations subcommittee, called a year-long continuing resolution “the least bad alternative.”

But even then, Democrats are going to have to decide how far they’re willing to fight to make sure the Trump administration and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency won’t completely ignore Congress’ work product. Against the backdrop of frozen federal funds and mass layoffs, Democrats’ low level of trust in the White House is only eroding further.

“I don't know if handshakes are working so much these days,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, in an interview. "They got to show they really mean it."

Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.