President Donald Trump on Monday urged House Republicans to pass a short-term, "clean" continuing resolution to prevent a partial government shutdown, posting on Truth Social that GOP lawmakers must "stick TOGETHER" and vote to keep the government open.
Trump called on House leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican Leader John Thune, to advance a stopgap measure and urged rank-and-file Republicans to support "both Votes needed to pass a Clean CR this week out of the House of Representatives," saying Democrats want the government to shut down and framing the choice as a contrast between Republican efforts to keep government operating and Democratic priorities.
Republican leaders have been working on a short-term extension of funding that would be enacted without policy riders, but the plan faces resistance from conservative members of the House GOP conference who oppose rolling over current spending levels. Because of the chamber's partisan arithmetic, House Republicans could afford to lose only two votes if they sought to pass a CR strictly along party lines; if three Republicans break ranks, the GOP would lack the votes needed to pass a stopgap without Democratic support.
Several House Republicans publicly objected to the idea of another continuing resolution. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said a short-term measure would simply replicate "the uniparty spending bill under Autopen Biden" and vowed he would not back such priorities. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said in a social-media post he was opposed to what he described as status-quo incrementalism and would not support another CR that perpetuates larger government. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., warned that voting for a CR could be construed as disloyal to Trump if it preserved spending priorities from the Biden administration.
Senate Republican Leader John Thune, speaking to reporters, said the continuing resolution under consideration "will have a few anomalies in it," according to a report in The Hill. That phrasing suggested negotiators were attempting to tweak the measure to address some concerns from holdouts while maintaining a short-term funding bridge.
A clean CR would temporarily extend current funding levels for federal agencies and programs, giving Congress more time to complete fiscal 2026 appropriations work. Supporters argue a stopgap would avoid service disruptions and furloughs tied to a lapse in appropriations; opponents among conservatives contend repeated CRs delay substantive policy changes and permanent spending adjustments that would reflect GOP priorities.
The dispute reflects broader tensions inside the Republican caucus between lawmakers prioritizing immediate stability and those insisting on tying funding to longer-term policy changes. House leaders face a narrow path to secure passage: they can either corral nearly unanimous GOP support for a clean stopgap or seek Democratic votes to pass the measure, a politically fraught option that would drop enactment of new spending levels into the crosshairs of bipartisan negotiations.
With the funding deadline approaching, the next days will test whether party leaders can forge a compromise to move a CR through the House and into the Senate or whether intra-party divisions will force a more contentious path that could include negotiations with Democrats or the prospect of partial funding lapses for some federal operations.
