Congressional negotiators racing to avert a government shutdown next month appear to have hit a wall on the question of whether to limit President Trump\u2019s powers to spend the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On one side of that divide are Democratic appropriators, who are already hammering the White House for refusing to back programs previously funded by Congress \u2014 a move they deem unconstitutional. They want explicit assurances that Trump will direct the new funding as Congress dictates going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other side are Republican negotiators, who say the president has flexibility in deciding where to apportion federal funds. What would be unconstitutional, they argue, is if Congress steps in to limit that executive discretion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The clash is just the latest front of the broader partisan brawl over the balance of powers in Washington and the scope of Trump\u2019s authority to dictate public policy even when it conflicts with congressional intent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The impasse has also raised the chances of a government shutdown, which would occur at midnight March 14 if Congress fails to reach a deal beforehand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re down to two options, a [stopgap] or a shutdown,\u201d Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart\u2002<\/u><\/a>(Fla.), one of 12 GOP spending cardinals in the lower chamber, told reporters on Thursday, adding lawmakers have \u201cno time to negotiate\u201d with just weeks on the calendar until the shutdown deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s growing acknowledgement on both sides of the aisle that a stopgap of some kind will be necessary to keep the government from shutting down next month. Top Republicans are eyeing a full-year stopgap, known as a continuing resolution (CR), which would largely keep spending at current 2024 levels and deny both sides the chance to hash out new spending bills for fiscal 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GOP leaders are blaming Democratic demands to rein in Trump for holding up funding talks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters on Wednesday that there were \u201csubstantial differences\u201d between both sides, although he and other top negotiators have said recently that they\u2019re \u201cclose\u201d or \u201cvirtually there\u201d in top-line negotiations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot so much on numbers, but over the presidential power issue with the Democrats,\u201d Cole explained, while also telling reporters that Republicans are \u201cnot moving\u201d on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, Democrats have waged an opposition campaign against the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been heavily influenced by billionaire Elon Musk, as it undertakes a sweeping operation to shrink and reshape the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re worried that the administration will simply ignore Congress\u2019s spending designs \u2014 as Trump did in scrapping virtually the entirety of spending for the U.S. Agency for International Development \u2014 and want some guarantee that the money lands where lawmakers direct it to land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to sort out the way for us to get to \u2014 if I can just encapsulate this \u2014 to really follow the law of appropriations, to make sure that the money is going to where it\u2019s been intended to go,\u201d said Rep. Rosa DeLauro\u2002<\/u><\/a>(Conn.), senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 20,000 probationary federal employees have been axed as the Trump administration ramps up firings. That covers new hires and employees who were newly promoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the list of agencies where employees have been targeted are the departments of Veterans Affairs<\/u><\/a>, Homeland Security<\/u><\/a>, Interior<\/u><\/a> and Education<\/u><\/a>. Democrats have also sounded the alarm over reports<\/u><\/a> the Social Security Administration is planning to layoff thousands of staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will continue to make clear that the law has to be followed \u2014 including as it relates to the funding of the Social Security Administration,\u201d House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-N.Y.) told reporters on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCongress funded the Social Security Administration so that everyday Americans in their golden years can receive the Social Security benefits that they are owed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The recent moves have prompted fierce blowback from Democrats, as well as concerns from some Republicans. By contrast, many conservatives have cheered Trump\u2019s orders, with some also ramping up calls on leadership to codify DOGE\u2019s cuts in the funding legislation \u2014 a nonstarter with Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said earlier this month<\/u><\/a> that Democrats would seek to include language in must-pass funding legislation to curb DOGE\u2019s efforts, as the party has also faced pressure to counter Trump\u2019s executive orders in the face of mass layoffs across federal agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But as the shutdown deadline nears, there\u2019s been chatter in the Capitol that Democrats may be willing to back down on those calls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Steve Womack\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Ark.), a spending cardinal, told reporters on Thursday that he heard Democrats might be willing \u201cto negotiate, and that the issues regarding restrictions on presidential authority could be off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n DeLauro, however, pushed back on that suggestion just moments later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re still talking about all of this, yes, and nobody\u2019s dropped anything,\u201d she told reporters, adding: \u201cWe\u2019re waiting for a response. We did make an offer on Saturday. I\u2019m waiting to hear back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked if Democrats were standing down on their push for assurances, Sen. Patty Murray\u2002<\/u><\/a>(Wash.), Democrats\u2019 top funding negotiator in the upper chamber, said lawmakers are \u201call working to try and get an agreement and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are asking for our Republican colleagues to assure us, to give us the ability to note when we pass bills they are going to be followed by this White House,\u201d she said, adding that there are \u201ca lot of ways to do that, and we\u2019re looking at all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe only person calling for a shutdown is Elon Musk. That would be very damaging to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there are also concerns on the Democratic side about how far to push the effort to counter DOGE\u2019s cuts in spending legislation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n