President Donald Trump and at least some clean energy and environment advocates have somehow reached the same conclusion in the government funding debate: A stopgap through September could be the best possible outcome — at least for now.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) plans to unveil a continuing resolution this weekend and put it up for a vote before next Friday’s funding deadline. That effort, endorsed by Trump, would buy more time for Republicans to pursue GOP priorities through budget reconciliation and, critically, keep funding levels steady for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Congress’ top Democratic appropriators are dead set against that plan. They have said they’re close to an agreement with their Republican counterparts on top-line levels and believe they can still pass fiscal 2025 spending bills to fully fund federal agencies. They also want assurances the administration will spend appropriated dollars.
But the ongoing push by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency to gut climate programs and Republicans’ reluctance to challenge him have made some other Democrats and clean energy supporters strange bedfellows with Trump and Johnson.
