Posted on 03/09/2025 6:15:58 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
What’s the argument for opposing the new CR being introduced by Speaker Mike Johnson this week? Other than being a continuing resolution, of course, which stink on ice. Congress has gotten into a bad habit over the past 20 years of failing to budget normally and properly. This year is no different, but in that same sense, this CR is both a necessity and better than all of the alternatives. This has been dysfunctional all along, but this isn’t a time to amplify it.
First off, we're stuck with the CR process. That ship sailed last year, when Democrats controlled the Senate, Joe Biden was president (ostensibly), and House Republicans spent the year forming circular firing squads. Yes, we could write an entirely new budget instead of a CR for FY2024-25, but we're nearly halfway through that fiscal year already. We'd have to start that process nearly from scratch too, which means we'd still need a CR to get enough time to work on it. That would take another couple of months at least under regular order -- meaning the proper committee process, etc -- by which time the rest of the fiscal year would be closer to a fiscal quarter.
What would we gain from that process? We'd be unlikely to move the needle much at all on spending, and create even more time for splits to emerge in the House Republican caucus with less time to resolve them. That effort is better applied to the FY2025-26 budget, where real opportunities exist for capturing significant spending cuts through DOGE.
That's why the White House is pushing the current CR hard with the GOP caucuses in both chambers:
Leavitt: "The President supports this CR and we're hopeful and expect Republicans to get on board so we can pass it and continue moving forward implementing President Trump's agenda." pic.twitter.com/FTpCTKdOQO— Gabriela Iglesias🇺🇲 (@iglesias_gabby) March 9, 2025
Donald Trump is getting personally involved in the push:
The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (“CR”)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s “financial house” in order. Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen. We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right. VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Not only is this a (relatively) clean CR, it actually reduces spending -- a little. This CR reduces spending by around $7 billion compared to the current annual spending levels in the previous budget and CR. It removes $13 billion in previously approved spending as rescissions rather than redistributions. It creates more flexibility in previously approved defense spending amounting to around $8 billion while adding $6.6 billion to the Department of Defense budget overall. It boosts funding for ICE's efforts to round up and deport criminal illegal aliens, which Tom Homan warns is needed to keep increasing the rate of arrests that have already ramped up in the first two months of Trump's second term.
It leaves everything else alone, however, which is why Trump and his allies insist this is a "clean" CR. As CRs go, that's about as clean as they come, and about the best we can expect to pass at this time. The real fight will come later, although not much later, when the FY2025-26 budget resolution's reconciliation bills can start getting floor votes. And we can't get to that without first settling FY2024-25.
It also represents an opportunity to turn the tables on Democrats. They usually set up Republicans for blame on government shutdowns by claiming that the GOP has created budget trickery in their CRs. This time, however, it's both clean and transparent, which leaves nothing more than sheer obstruction as a reason to vote against it:
Republicans are challenging Democrats to vote against the CR, which avoids a shutdown, after Dems warned about its dangers three months ago. Trump urged a "Yes" vote on the CR, with Speaker Johnson planning a vote Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/zFYAQoqoTO— Breaking News of the Day (@Breakingne66541) March 9, 2025
If all Republicans vote for the CR, then Democrats will be irrelevant anyway. The CR is not subject to a filibuster in the Senate, and according to Roll Call in the link above, John Fetterman (D-PA) plans to vote in support of the CR when it comes to the upper chamber. But it will be a way to expose Democrats as being mindlessly obstructionist when they won't even vote for a relatively clean CR that keeps spending authorizations within $7 billion of current levels -- when Americans are clamoring for far deeper cuts in deficit spending.
There is no downside to voting in favor of this CR for Republicans. There is a huge downside for House GOP factions to gum up the works and force a shutdown over peanuts at this stage. Let's light this candle and move on to the fights that matter.
Update: The first sentence was missing when this first published. I also added a sentence to the end of the first paragraph as well.
BS - this is what Johnson said last fall and then last year and the year before that.
The cabinet is in place.
Ukraine is less our concern.
Get the budget situation straightened out this week.
Can we start arresting people soon?
There will be a CR. Trump and the Repubs want it.
Instead of passing a real budget, they are just kicking the can down the road. To the tune of another 2 trillion dollar deficit every year.
smh
I believe the gist of the article was the fact that it is too late to reject the notion of the CR this year because Biden the Republicans set it up that way.
I intend to reserve judgement on President Trump vis-a-vis CRs unless he allows it to continue year after year.
what the H is CR?
continuing resolution ...
Several sources say the CR ***IS*** subject to filibuster. Meaning it does not qualify for Reconciliation.
But this guy says it can be part of Reconciliation.
It’s a huge question and I’m surprised the answer is not unanimous.
Thank you. I’ve never seen that before; and, Lord, I’m 75.
The CR is less important than it used to be. President Trump plans to use recission to cut much of what will be funded by the CR.
I believe President Trump when he says he’s serious about making BIG cuts on the basis of what’s being uncovered by DOGE. We’re going to have plenty of spending cuts over the next 4 years, IMO - more than we’ve ever seen. But the issue, as I understand it, is that a protracted fight over the CR will delay the budget reconciliation bill, which is going to contain Trump’s highest priority legislation (i.e. renewing and expanding the Trump tax cuts, funding border security and deportation operations, increased military funding, etc.).
Those items need to pass fairly quickly if their economic impact will be felt in time for the 2026 Midterms. The CR, at this point, is a distraction.
Fetterman, AKA Uncle Fester, is up for reelection in 2026.
It takes time to turn a big ship around. I’m happy to be patient as long as we keep winning every day.
Nothing new here. Congress has passed all its required appropriations measures on time only four times: fiscal 1977 (the first full fiscal year under the current system), 1989, 1995 and 1997. And even those last three times, Congress was late in passing the budget blueprint that, in theory at least, precedes the actual spending bills.
Everybody is in the pork business and the amount of worth is not getting bigger, it’s just getting more expensive. And as the slush funds are used and the increased taxes either don’t cover the need or new needs (that’s that pork I was taking about) appear, whether they are needs or not, we lose ground every year. So they call it a wash and add to the debt. But the pork continues. And that’s what Musk has been tasked to do, find the prok congress is willing to give up because they won’t take it away from themselves.
wy69
Nothing new here. Congress has passed all its required appropriations measures on time only four times: fiscal 1977 (the first full fiscal year under the current system), 1989, 1995 and 1997. And even those last three times, Congress was late in passing the budget blueprint that, in theory at least, precedes the actual spending bills.
Everybody is in the pork business and the amount of worth is not getting bigger, it’s just getting more expensive. And as the slush funds are used and the increased taxes either don’t cover the need or new needs (that’s that pork I was taking about) appear, whether they are needs or not, we lose ground every year. So they call it a wash and add to the debt. But the pork continues. And that’s what Musk has been tasked to do, find the prok congress is willing to give up because they won’t take it away from themselves.
wy69
All that is fine until some grandstanding judge orders that appropriated monies be spent.
Like that John McConnell in RI or that Amir Ali guy. Then the SCOTUS sits on its butt and lets it happen. Its absurd.
RE: what the H is CR?
You can call it Comfort Room, but joking aside 😆
A continuing resolution (CR) is a type of legislation used by the United States Congress to fund government agencies and programs temporarily when the formal appropriations process has NOT YET been completed by the start of the fiscal year. The fiscal year for the federal government begins on October 1st and ends on September 30th of the following year.
Continuing resolutions are necessary to prevent a government shutdown, which occurs when Congress fails to pass appropriations bills or a CR to fund government operations.
Pass a CR based on Clinton years, how could the Dems argue against that?
“All that is fine until some grandstanding judge orders that appropriated monies be spent.”
The grandstanding judge has no idea what is involved. They don’t access budget assets for years from the past. If you are using the term appropriate as a system of budgeting, then it doesn’t have to be spent. All budgeting is a guessed at term to try to get more money out of the system than they actually need. Where do you think so much of the money is coming off the money tree in the back yard? It’s cyphoned from mentioned expenditures congress approved to be sent that was never done so.
Since so much of this is from the military at this time with the Ukraine, all of the worth being sent over there is from the approprtiate accounts and put in the bank just like a savings account approved by congress with every stop taking out what they consider not worth spending at every “in” basket. A lot of it comes out of the three year capital expenditures budget with changes every year. So consider if $1 is not spent from the budget with sales changes, on hand inventory shortages, short fall writeups, or any other reason, you can have that $1 sitting in the bank for decades unless someone who knew it was there and it is re-applied either to capital expence for the “ear marked” item or changed to another. Either way, it is commonly called a slush fund. And they are everywhere. And in many cases they are borrowed to try to cover losses from previous screwups in other projects like it or even not like it and it can be called “fall out.”
Imagine 1000 credit cards of which they cross and pay for each other all the time. Confusing? Yes, and you don’t know a small part of it. It even has a name, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. And it’s all determined by what the Gods of money are willing to allow to be spent governed by rules that are completely flexible. This is why you can buy an ice cream machine replacing a weapon on a CACRL. Please don’t ask on that one. It’s absolutely insane.
wy69
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