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Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole said, "Given the deadline before us, we are pursuing every pathway to ensure a lapse in funding never occurs." (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press)

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Congressional Republican leaders in early March were focused on pursuing a short-term funding extension designed to avert a partial government shutdown this month.

Ahead of a March 14 deadline, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, pointed to the need for approving a multimonth measure that would keep the federal government open.

Cole is advocating against a partial shutdown, which could happen if no funding deal is reached. His sentiment was echoed by fellow Republicans governing with majorities in the House and Senate. The chamber as early as the week of March 10 was expected to consider the short-term bill that would authorize funding through September.

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“A government shutdown is unacceptable, and Republicans have continually worked in earnest to deliver a deal on full-year appropriations. Given the deadline before us, we are pursuing every pathway to ensure a lapse in funding never occurs. This two-track strategy includes both a focus on a stopgap to provide certainty while negotiations on a full-year appropriations deal continue,” Cole explained March 3, criticizing Democratic leaders for pushing back on the GOP’s legislative strategies as well as President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“Unfortunately,” Cole continued, “it seems some Democrats would rather risk and leverage a shutdown than work in sincerity to reach a feasible solution.”

Cole’s committee is split along partisan lines, as his Democratic partner detailed a differing version of the legislative state-of-play on Capitol Hill.

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“Republicans have not returned to the table to negotiate final full-year funding bills, continuing to raise the risk of a shutdown so they can keep trying to take away health insurance for children and give tax cuts to billionaires,” committee ranking member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said a day following Cole’s remarks. “Instead of joining Democrats to protect the middle class, working people, veterans and small businesses, Republicans are protecting the interests of unchecked billionaire Elon Musk and trying to pass a power grab full-year continuing resolution that would be a blank check for President Trump.”

For emphasis, DeLauro added, “It is time for Republicans to come back to the table to finish full-year funding bills.”

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On the other side of the Capitol, partisan divisions also continued to dominate much of the debate surrounding funding negotiations. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the chamber’s majority whip, took aim at Democrats. As he put it on the Senate floor March 6, “Democrats in this body are now, believe it or not, threatening a shutdown — a shutdown of the government of the United States. Shutting down the government is not an outcome that President Trump wants. It’s not an outcome that any of the Republicans want.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, has pressed colleagues to approve a bipartisan funding package that would avert a shutdown. Murray is among senior Democrats insisting Congress pass legislative directions designed to reinforce the legislative branch’s oversight role over the White House. At issue are Trump’s cascade of executive orders halting funds for certain programs and the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s realignment of agencies and personnel.

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“I want to be clear: What I am asking for is to work together to make sure that as we write and negotiate these full-year spending bills, our laws get followed,” Murray said March 4. “I welcome, and I want everyone to know, I am open to any and all ideas on how we can work together to do that.”

Since the start of the year, the appropriations funding committees have not advanced fiscal funding legislation for consideration before the House and Senate floors. Absent enactment of a funding fix, several federal agencies would experience a pause in operations.

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