The U.S. government is careening toward a shutdown on Saturday unless Congress can approve a continuing resolution to keep it open. 

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a measure to fund the government until the fiscal year ends on September 30, 2025; one Republican voted against it (Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky) and one Democrat voted for it (Rep. Jared Golden of Maine). The measure is now before the Senate, where the GOP proposal will need support from at least eight Democrats, who were not involved in negotiations.

Republican leaders’ ability to get the $1.7 trillion bill through Congress is considered an early indicator of how expeditiously they will be able to enact President Donald Trump’s broader political agenda. It could also reveal whether the Democrats in the minority can hold together to stymie it when they have leverage. 

Trump wrote on social media over the weekend that all Republicans should vote “yes” on the measure, adding: “NO DISSENT.” He has already threatened to fund a primary challenger against Massie. Vice President JD Vance was at the Capitol this week to rally Republican support ahead of the House vote. 

If Republicans can fund the government through September 30, 2025, the end of the federal fiscal year, they will free up time for Congress to try to enact Trump’s top priority: a tax-and-spending plan extending his 2017 tax cuts, which largely benefited corporations and the wealthy. One of the ways they might for that is with steep cuts to programs like Medicaid. When reporters asked Trump on Wednesday whether he aimed to lower the corporate tax rate, he responded: “We are planning to lower taxes if Democrats behave.”

Here’s what to expect as Republicans aim to pass their continuing resolution and avert a government shutdown:

Why is it the Republicans’ continuing resolution?

Republican leaders bypassed the normal appropriations process that funds the government and crafted the measure without input from or negotiations with Democrats. They reneged on prior bipartisan deals. Republicans control the White House, Senate and House. 

What is in the GOP’s continuing resolution, or CR?

The $1.7 trillion bill covers all discretionary spending on federal agencies and programs until the next fiscal year begins on October 1, 2025. It would cut $13 billion from non-defense spending and increase defense spending by $6 billion, as compared to the 2024 fiscal year. 

Funding for programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would not change as they are considered mandatory spending and their funding is covered by separate statutes. If the government shuts down, though, there could be delays in the distribution of those benefits.

The continuing resolution rescinds $20 billion for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provided by the Biden administration-era Inflation Reduction Act. As a result, tens of thousands of employees at the agency would lose their jobs during tax season, following the more than 7,000 who have already been laid off by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

It cuts $30 million from Community Connect, an initiative of Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD), which is a $42 billion grant program for high-speed internet access in lower-income and rural communities established by President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law. Trump’s Commerce Department recently changed the rules of the BEAD program in a way that will allow Musk’s Starlink to bid on lucrative government contracts. 

The CR slashes more than $900 million from the District of Columbia’s budget mid-year, including $400 million slated for schools and education. Local leaders have said that if it were to pass, the continuing resolution would trigger furloughs for teachers and other public employees like law enforcement officers. 

It cuts $280 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and removes congressional directives about how the money should be spent, impacting research that includes studies on Alzheimer’s disease and maternal mortality, among other topics.

It cuts $700 million for rent subsidies for lower-income Americans, which could lead to tens of thousands of people losing housing vouchers, according to Democratic estimates. As Bobby Kogan, a budget expert at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, put it: “In Section 8, there’s special preference for people with kids, people with disabilities and veterans, so it just means we’re able to serve fewer families with children, fewer people with disabilities and fewer veterans — there’s just going to be less money for housing.”

The CR contains no special funds for disaster relief. 

Why is Congress voting on this now since the fiscal year is half over?

The government is operating on a continuing resolution that Congress approved in December 2024. Before that, there was a continuing resolution in place that covered October 1, 2024 through December 20, 2024. Continuing resolutions are used when Congress cannot pass appropriations bills in time for the next fiscal year.

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leaders all but reached a bipartisan deal in December that would have funded the government through the end of fiscal year 2025 at the same levels as the year before, plus an additional $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion for farmers. Trump and Musk called for that deal to fail. When it did, Congress approved a short-term measure to keep the government open through March 14, 2025. 

What are Republicans saying about the CR? What do Democrats think?

Republicans are referring to the measure as a “clean” CR — in congressional parlance that means it would keep government funding levels the same as prior-year appropriations or the continuing resolution that preceded it. Since the GOP’s $1.7 trillion continuing resolution cuts non-defense spending and increases defense spending when compared to fiscal year 2024, it is by definition not a “clean” CR. 

In the past, due to opposition from lawmakers in the most fiscally conservative flank of the Republican Party, Johnson had to rely on Democrats to get funding measures through the House. But after Republicans unveiled the CR on Saturday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged his fellow Democrats to vote against it. A notice to lawmakers from Democratic leadership said that the CR “would remove guardrails that direct where funds should be spent. It would allow the White House to accelerate its dismantling of critical services.” Trump courted and threatened Republican lawmakers, ultimately winning over all but one. The lower chamber approved the bill Tuesday.

Its fate in the Senate is less clear.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday that the Republican majority would support the continuing resolution — but acknowledged they would need Democrats to join them to overcome the 60-vote threshold colloquially known as the filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was not forthcoming about the party’s plans after Democrats met Tuesday to discuss the government funding measure. 

Leaders from both parties are weighing which side would be blamed for a government shutdown: Is it the Republicans in charge of the government or the Senate Democrats whose votes the Republicans need to get the take-it-or-leave-it measure over the finish line?

Only one Senate Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has said he will vote “yes” on the continuing resolution. A handful of other Democrats have said they plan to cast “no” votes. Many more, though, have not said how they plan on voting. A pressure campaign has developed, with voters calling Senate offices — particularly Democrats representing states Trump won — urging them to reject the continuing resolution. 

“If House Republicans don’t think they need us when writing a bill, why should they expect us to support the bill?” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington asked during a floor speech on Tuesday.

The top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee added that it would “give away Congress’ power over key funding decisions” and “hands a blank check to Trump and Elon Musk to pick winners and losers.”

The lack of specificity in the continuing resolution, which in many cases provides a top-line cut for an agency or department but does not delineate where the cuts should be made, is a hangup for Democrats. They argue it usurps Congress’ power of the purse and hands over spending decisions to the Trump administration, which is pushing for more power. Musk’s DOGE has already canceled federal contracts and fired agency workers; these actions are subject to multiple court challenges. Trump’s head of the country’s budget office, Russell Vought, has also signaled he wants to expand the president’s authority to redirect congressionally appropriated funds. 

Democrats worry that Education Department funds, for example, could be redirected to GOP priorities like charter schools and away from programs related to mental health services. Another concern is that NIH cuts could fall disproportionately on research not supported by the Trump administration.

What happens if the Senate does not approve the CR?

If a continuing resolution is not approved by both chambers before midnight on Friday, the government will start shutting down. 

Murray and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, have introduced an alternative, short-term CR that funds the government through April 11. Though it has gained little traction, it could get a second look if the GOP’s continuing resolution cannot get through the Senate.

Murray and DeLauro say a short-term CR would buy Congress a few weeks to negotiate a bipartisan measure to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year and avert a shutdown.