Senate Republicans consider pushing back government funding extension

Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans are contemplating scaling again the Home-passed authorities funding extension in an effort to present lawmakers extra time to move spending payments.

The Home of Representatives’ persevering with decision (CR) would reopen the federal government till November 21. That invoice has been blocked 13 instances to this point by Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats, pushing the shutdown into record-breaking territory.

Provided that the unique seven-week plan has now shrunk to only three weeks because the shutdown continues, Thune and the Republican Senate understand that extra time might be wanted to move the appropriations payments.

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Senate Republicans are desperate to move gun funding payments, however stay steadfast of their place that reopening the federal government is one of the best answer. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)

“The Home-passed CR is, you understand, the concept that we will get all of the appropriations payments performed by November twenty first, you understand, that date is misplaced,” Thune mentioned.

The purpose now could be to draft a CR that extends the funding deadline, presumably till January. Thune mentioned he was “actually open” to extending the deadline to subsequent yr. Senate Republicans tried to move a bundle of three payments late final month, and presumably extra. However that transfer was blocked by Senate Democrats.

“In the event you take a look at the calendar, if you wish to do regular appropriations work, you take a look at how lengthy it takes for payments to move within the Senate and thru the Home,” he mentioned. “It is, you understand, the longer type of runway is best.”

Doing so would both require a brand new CR or the Home-passed invoice might be amended. Nonetheless, something the Republicans put out should break the 60-vote threshold within the Senate and want the help of the Democrats.

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Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer (D-NY) attends a press convention following a weekly Democratic coverage luncheon on Capitol Hill on October 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. The federal government stays shuttered after Congress failed to succeed in a funding deal final week. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photographs)

Any adjustments to the Home invoice, or a brand new invoice, would additionally must be despatched again to the Home of Representatives, which has stored Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., out of session for greater than six weeks now.

When Johnson was requested about time operating out on the Home-passed CR, he didn’t say whether or not lawmakers ought to draft a brand new one or lengthen the Nov. 21 deadline. Nevertheless, he blamed Senate Democrats for operating out the clock.

“We’re very aware of the clock,” Johnson advised Fox Information’ Will Cain on “The Will Cain Present.” “And the nice irony right here is that the Democrats are those taking the day off that clock. We would have liked it.”

However lawmakers within the Home of Representatives already anticipated that extra time can be wanted given the blockade within the Senate.

Home Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., advised Fox Information Digital in an interview late final month that he believed a brand new CR can be mandatory “after losing a lot time.”

Requested what timing he thought can be real looking, Cole mentioned he might see a short-term measure “in all probability early January” in an effort to keep away from a colossal year-end funding invoice often called an omnibus, which crams all 12 appropriations payments and numerous spending and policymakers into one invoice.

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Home Speaker Mike Johnson, Rep. Lisa McClain and Rep. Steve Scalise, left to proper, throughout a press convention on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)

“There is a worry in each chambers, in each events, of what is referred to as the Christmas Omnibus, the place we put you proper to the brink of Christmas, and so they do not allow you to go residence to your loved ones till you move a horrible omnibus invoice. We do not need to do this to our members,” he mentioned.

However there’s one other faction throughout the Republican Get together that’s calling for a longer-term invoice. A supply aware of the Home Freedom Caucus advised Fox Information Digital final month that the chairman, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., would advocate for a invoice that might run till December 2026 — offered he agrees to the main points within the measure itself.

In the meantime, Thune mentioned he was optimistic the shutdown might finish this week. The Senate is approaching one more scheduled recess, this time for Veterans Day subsequent week, permitting lawmakers to depart Washington, D.C., whereas the federal government stays shut down.

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He wasn’t able to cancel recess outright, however famous that “if we do not see progress or any proof of it at the very least by the center of this week, it is onerous to foretell how we might get something performed by the top of the week.”

“I feel we’re getting near an exit right here, however you understand, that is in contrast to some other authorities shutdown,” he mentioned.