Top GOP negotiator warns stopgap becoming more likely to avert shutdown

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Monday that negotiators are still trading offers as both sides seek a compromise to keep the government funded into autumn — but he cautioned a stopgap is becoming more likely the longer Congress goes without a deal.

Pressed about the prospect of a stopgap on Monday, Cole told reporters, “The longer we go, the more likely that is.” 

He added that both sides are still trading offers as top negotiators have worked for weeks to try to reach a deal on a top-line level for government funding for fiscal 2025, which began last October.

His comments come amid the ongoing fallout over sweeping efforts by President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency to shrink the size of government and implement funding cuts without approval from Congress.

Congressional Democrats see the upcoming shutdown deadline as a way to counter some of those efforts. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also said earlier this month that Democrats will push for language to unwind the recent measures by the Trump administration.

However, Cole said Monday that he is “not for anything, appropriations bills, that limit the power of the president.”

“So, if that’s a condition, and that seems to be where the Democrats are, we’re not going to do that,” he said.

Congress has until March 14 to pass legislation to keep the government funded to prevent a shutdown. 

Cole expressed concern weeks ago that appetite is “growing” for a stopgap that runs through September, as lawmakers run months behind in finishing up their 12 annual spending bills for fiscal 2025.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also didn’t rule out a full-year stopgap to keep the government funded through the end of the fiscal year in remarks to reporters earlier this month.

Emily Brooks contributed.