Knives Out: The United States Congress

Plus: Al Green falls on the sword.

(Photo by WIN MCNAMEE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

We have about one week until government funding runs out—eight days and nine hours, to be exact. While it’s hardly a surprise that the Republican-led House of Representatives is marching toward a shutdown—their chronic, besetting dysfunction is well known at this point—things feel a bit different this time. That’s because Democrats are less inclined than ever to come to the rescue.

As Lauren Egan and I reported last week, Democrats are understandably wary of any kind of funding agreement: President Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s behavior, which has resulted in the gutting of federal programs and shuttering of agencies without congressional consent, has given them little basis for trust.

Beyond that, when it comes to the government staying open, there is a fundamental divide between the two parties. Democrats actually believe the state does good work, while MAGA Republicans generally don’t. Dems are therefore more inclined to find solutions that will keep the lights on even if doing so requires sacrifices. These civic notes were audible in some of their most recent statements.

“I’ll never vote to shut our government down,” said Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). “That’s chaos. Keeping our government open is one of our core responsibilities, and I refuse to burn the village down in order to save it.”

As of now, congressional leaders are set on finding a way out. The four corners (the chairs and ranking members of each chambers’ appropriations committees) have been meeting to hash out a deal.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters Wednesday that the continuing resolution under consideration (in essence, a bill to keep the current funding levels in place) would extend through the rest of the year (in Washington, that means until late September). Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Cole’s counterpart on the House Appropriations Committee, said the full-year CR is a point of opposition for Democrats. She and other Democrats want some guarantee that Musk won’t just cut away the parts of the deal he doesn’t like; otherwise they’re inclined to back something shorter in length.