Top Republican leaders and appropriators in both chambers agreed Wednesday morning to hold firm against Democrats’ demands to stop President Donald Trump and Elon Musk from withholding congressionally approved funding, according to the House’s top appropriator.
That stance will dare members of the minority party to either support a funding deal without those guardrails or force a shutdown March 14.
“Our differences with our Democratic colleagues on some of the restrictions they’re demanding on what we consider legitimate presidential authority — we’re not moving on that,” said House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.), exiting a meeting with Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
Johnson’s comments to reporters following the meeting were far stronger.
