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President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass a “clean” funding measure, blaming the Biden administration for past budgeting failures.
Trump shared the statement in a post to his Truth Social account on Thursday focused on the budget battle.
“As usual, Sleepy Joe Biden left us a total MESS. The Budget from last YEAR is still not done,” Trump wrote.
“We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill (‘CR’) to the end of September. Let’s get it done!” he continued.
Trump recently applauded House Speaker Mike Johnson after the GOP-led House narrowly passed a budget blueprint.
“Big First Step Win for Speaker Mike Johnson, and AMERICA. Now let’s start to BALANCE THE BUDGET. IT CAN BE DONE!!!” Trump wrote on Wednesday.
The effort passed 217-215, with all votes along party lines except for Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voted no.
Republicans are leveraging budget reconciliation to advance Trump’s priorities to bypass Democratic opposition in the Senate. The House resolution sets a baseline of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts across committees, aiming for $2 trillion in total reductions.
Despite rumors from some sources, Trump and Republicans vowed not to make cuts to Medicaid.
“The president was clear about that. I was clear about that,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said. “We will work through this, but the objective today is to begin the process.”
It caps the deficit impact of any GOP plan to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts at $4.5 trillion, allocates $300 billion for border security and defense, and raises the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
The House must reconcile its resolution with the Senate, which passed its budget plan using a different approach. Lawmakers face the challenge of crafting a final bill that aligns with both chambers’ parameters and securing enough votes within the conference’s narrow majority.
The next steps involve committee hearings to finalize details before sending the House version to the Senate. Negotiations to avert a government shutdown will likely accelerate in the next week as federal funding expires on March 14.