The U.S. House of Representatives is closed to start the week, as they were all of last week.

Senators returned to Washington on Monday, but the House won’t be in session until Wednesday — leaving them just two days to pass a yet-to-be-released government funding deal to avoid a partial shutdown on Friday.

Another chunk of the federal government would shut down on March 8 if no agreement is reached.

What You Need To Know

  • Parts of the federal government could run out of funding on March 1, with the rest facing a March 8 deadline

  • The House won’t be in session until Wednesday — leaving them just two days to pass a yet-to-be-released government funding deal
  • House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La, and much of his conference want drastic spending cuts. Senate Democrats and the White House are largely uninterested and a compromise remains elusive
  • Food support programs for women and children, veterans outreach programs, federal housing loan support and the training and hiring of air traffic controllers would be among the consequences of missing Friday’s deadline
  • Whether Johnson is willing to allow a government shutdown for his cause remains to be seen. But at least some members on his hard-right flank are open to the idea, including head of the influential House Freedom Caucus

Both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. — who lead their respective chambers — said negotiators were working hard on a new deal and blamed each other for delays. Schumer said he had hoped to share text of the funding legislation with his fellow senators over the weekend, but wrote in a letter “it is clear now that House Republicans need more time to sort themselves out.”

“This is not academic. We are mere days away from a partial government shutdown on March 1. Unless Republicans get serious, the extreme Republican shutdown will endanger our economy, raise costs, lower safety, and exact untold pain on the American people,” Schumer wrote in the Sunday message to his colleagues. “Unfortunately, extreme House Republicans have shown they’re more capable of causing chaos than passing legislation.”

Schumer noted food support programs for women and children, veterans outreach programs, federal housing loan support and the training and hiring of air traffic controllers would be among the consequences of missing Friday’s deadline. Four of 12 spending bills required to fully fund the federal government face the March 1 deadline, covering dozens of departments and programs.

Johnson quickly responded on Sunday, writing on social media that Schumer’s letter was “counterproductive.”

“The House has worked nonstop, and is continuing to work in good faith, to reach agreement with the Senate on compromise government funding bills in advance of the deadlines,” Johnson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our position is that of the American people and our mission is to take steps to rein in Democrats’ overspending and policies that are harming the economy, raising prices, and making everyday life harder for our constituents.”

Whether Johnson is willing to allow a government shutdown for his cause remains to be seen. But at least some members on his hard-right flank are open to the idea, a tactic the House Freedom Caucus has expressed interest in utilizing. 

“The more this government does, the worse it is for the American people. We shouldn't be joining hands with Democrats just to show we can govern or we can get things done,” House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said on Fox Business on Monday. “A government shutdown is not ideal. But it's not the worst thing.”

Among the programs facing shutdowns after March 1: the Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Energy and Veterans Affairs, as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Food and Drug Administration. On March 8, if no deal is reached, the Departments of Education, Defense, Justice, State, Homeland Security, Interior, Commerce and Health and Human Services would run out of funding, along with NASA and other agencies.

Schumer, President Joe Biden and their fellow Democrats are uninterested in significant spending cuts. And whatever cuts they may compromise on could prove untenable for the fiscal hawks in Johnson’s conference who have scuttled funding deals in the past, as they did in January when they forced their relatively new speaker to abandon a $1.66 trillion budget he temporarily agreed with Schumer to send to Biden’s desk before reneging.

“A basic priority or duty of Congress is to keep the government open,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Air Force One on Monday.

If a deal cannot be reached by Friday, Congress could pass what's known as a continuing resolution, or CR, which would keep the government open at present spending levels. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed from his post in October after cutting a deal with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution. Nearly four months into the fiscal year, the U.S. government is operating without assurances funding will last days, much less weeks.

Earlier this month, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a top-ranking member of GOP leadership, told Bloomberg Television that “you’re not going to get another continuing resolution out of our conference.”

Johnson faces pressure from the same factions that ended McCarthy’s speakership, though threats of removal have yet to be made publicly. Still, he has been unable to find deals on border policy or foreign aid this year despite months of work and bipartisan agreements in the Senate. Only two pieces of legislation passed in the historically unproductive House have reached the president’s desk this year: a continuing resolution in January and a bill that requires Customs and Border Protection to remove personal information from cargo manifests before making them public.

“We anticipate text for likely omnibus legislation that we fear will be replaced at the latest moment before being rushed to the floor for a vote,” members of the House Freedom Caucus wrote in a letter to Johnson last week. “If we are not going to secure significant policy changes or even keep spending below the caps adopted by bipartisan majorities less than one year ago, why would we proceed when we can instead pass a year-long funding resolution that would save Americans $100 billion in year one?”

Among their requests: reduce the impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary to $0, end military spending on providing service members and their families abortion care, bar federal health care funds from paying for gender affirming care, defund unfavorable Biden environmental and border policies, cut off U.S. dollars to international bodies like the World Health Organization and certain U.N. agencies, block Biden’s student loan relief and stop Planned Parenthood from using federal funds for abortion services, among other priorities. 

“The fight is now. We need to prohibit funding for anti-American, weaponized government initiatives and SECURE THE BORDER,” Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., wrote on X on Monday.

Johnson’s majority has grown slim with retirements and absences due to illness. At its maximum strength, he will have a six-seat advantage over Democrats after Wednesday. New York Democrat Tom Suozzi will be sworn in that day after winning a special election earlier this month to replace the ousted Republican former Rep. George Santos. 

Schumer, Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are set to meet with Biden at the White House on Tuesday. On Monday, Schumer told reporters “Democrats are doing everything we can to avoid a shutdown.” McConnell did not respond to questions at the Capitol. 

“Shutting down the government is harmful to the country and it never produces positive outcomes on either policy or politics,” McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor on Monday. “We have the means and just enough time this week to avoid a shutdown.”