March 14, 2025: What the CR fight is really about

The Senate will vote later today on whether to approve a GOP-crafted government funding bill that will give President Trump and Elon Musk more freedom to gut the services and support families depend on.

Below is a quick rundown of the stakes and the major moments to watch.

ICYMI: here’s where we are

The government will shut down at midnight if Congress does not pass—and the President does not sign—a new bill to keep it open. To avert this, congressional Democrats wrote a stopgap bill called a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government operating under the status quo for another month while bipartisan talks on a long-term measure continue. 

Republicans—who control the House and Senate and, therefore, decide what the chambers vote on—are instead advancing their own CR to fund the government through September. That bill passed the House earlier this week by a nearly-party-line vote: just one Democrat voted for it, and one Republican opposed it. This bill will soon come before the Senate. 

Why the CR is dangerous

The Republican CR does not simply kick the can through September: it gives the President new power to decide how taxpayer dollars are spent, takes resources away from Americans’ health care and education, and boosts funding for the Pentagon and mass deportations. 

There are ample resources explaining these harmful provisions, so for brevity’s sake, I’ll let folks check out the breakdowns below if they want to dig into details.

• Shifting to a Shutdown Showdown (Unrig the Rules)

• What’s wrong with a full-year CR and the path to passing one (Unrig the Rules)

• Full-Year Continuing Resolution Allows Elon Musk and President Trump to Accelerate the Stealing of Funds from American Families and Businesses (House Appropriations Committee, Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro)

• The Republican Continuing Resolution Raises Housing Costs for Hardworking Americans (House Appropriations Committee, Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro)

• Republicans unveil another extension to try to avert government shutdown (Washington Post)

• More Than 160 Groups Oppose the Republican CR (Public Citizen)

What happens now

Later today, the Senate will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to Cal. #26, H.R.1968, Continuing Resolution.

…I realize that’s a lot of words. I myself have only ever worked in the House, so I am with you! But I will do my best to share the must-know info.

Passing a bill in the Senate just takes a simple majority vote (51 of 100 senators). But before that can happen, the Senate must first vote to end debate and actually take that vote on passage. This is known as “invoking cloture,” and doing that takes 60 votes. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, meaning they need at least seven Democratic votes to invoke cloture if Republicans support cloture unanimously. 

I note this because folks may see senators say they’ll vote yes or no on the CR itself, but that’s not necessarily an indication of how they’ll vote on cloture. 

As folks may have seen last night, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would vote to invoke cloture. It is not yet clear how many of his Democratic colleagues will join him and Senator John Fetterman (also a “yes” on cloture). Vote tallies can be found here. 

Why this is a debate 

If the Republican CR does not pass, the government will likely shut down. Shutdowns hurt the public, who must grapple with disruptions to federal services and programs, and federal employees who are furloughed or forced to work without pay.

In this case, however, President Trump and Elon Musk are already disrupting federal services and programs and firing thousands of federal workers who keep those programs running for the Americans who depend on them. 

The Republican CR would exacerbate this problem, removing some of the only guardrails in place that let Congress specify how taxpayer funds are used. Without these safeguards, the President and Musk will have carte blanche to use Americans’ money to enrich themselves—like by directing new contracts to Musk’s companies. 

Not to mention: as soon as this government funding fight ends, Republicans in Congress will go back to crafting their bill to defund programs like Medicaid to fund tax giveaways to billionaires and corporations.

These overlapping fights are ultimately about the same thing: the Trump/Musk effort to ensure our government serves the mega-rich, not working families.

Sign up for future Unrig the Rules updates here! If you’d like a live update for your group or coalition, reach out to catherine@progressivecaucuscenter.org. Thanks!