The Federal Budget: Spending, Taxes, and Debt

Myth Buster: The House-Passed CR Reflects Biden Spending Levels

The Federal Budget: Spending, Taxes, and Debt Policy Rapid Response BlogSeptember 25, 2025 By Brittany Madni

Background: Current State of Play

At the time of writing, Congress and President Donald J. Trump have not yet reached an agreement on government funding for the annual appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2026. House and Senate Republicans, alongside President Trump, have taken tangible, reasonable, and fiscally responsible steps toward keeping the government operational without increasing spending, while still allowing for further negotiations on toplines and policies to be included in the ultimate appropriations package. Using the 60-vote threshold, Senate Democrats have prevented this effort from advancing. If a deal is not reached by midnight on September 30, 2025, appropriations (annual discretionary funding) will lapse at the start of the new fiscal year at 12:01 AM on October 1, 2025. At such a point, a government shutdown would occur. This stems from the Congressional power of the purse in the Constitution:

“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”

Article I, Section 9, Clause 7

On September 19th, the House passed the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (H.R. 5371), a clean continuing resolution (CR) that would extend funding and avert a shutdown for seven weeks while negotiations continue. The Senate then considered the bill the same day and it failed to garner the necessary 60 votes for passage. The overwhelming number of Democrats opposed the bill, while a single Democrat in each chamber – Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME-02) in the House and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in the Senate – joined Republicans in supporting it. This vote history is important, as it provides key context and a stark departure from past bipartisan vote tallies on CRs at the same funding level.

The Minority Leader’s Myth

Unfortunately, Congressional Democratic Leadership has blockaded the clean CR on the basis of misinformation in an attempt to increase their leverage and dramatically grow federal spending. Such an outcome would have detrimental impacts on the national debt and fiscal health of the United States. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08) claimed that the House-passed CR does not reflect President Biden’s final spending levels:

“They are not the Biden spending levels. Let's be clear about that. The Biden spending level. That's another Republican talking point. The Biden spending levels were agreed to by President Joe Biden in the December continuing resolution. That's the bipartisan bill in December or not in March. That's the Trump spending level. And the notion that anyone would just accept the statement that those are Biden spending levels when it's very easy to take a look at the bill in December that was passed with bipartisan margins and signed into law by then President Joe Biden. And the bill in March that was jammed down the throats of the American people in a very partisan way and signed into law by Donald Trump. I don't accept that idea that it's the Biden spending numbers when the facts say exactly the opposite.”

In reality, the facts “say exactly the opposite” of Leader Jeffries’s claims. Jeffries fails to follow the legislative history back through the tangled appropriations web of the past few years. There is only one conclusion to draw: the House-passed CR draws on the Biden spending levels.

Unraveling the CR Layers

President Biden signed into law a CR in December 2024 (PL 118-158). The December CR extended the previously enacted FY 2024 levels through March 14, 2025. This was the second CR of the year. PL 118 158

The December CR was a stop gap amending the earlier September CR, which was signed by President Biden into law on September 26, 2024, just days before the end of that fiscal year. The September CR, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (PL 118-83) was the stop-gap measure that funded the federal government from October 1, 2024, through December 20, 2024. PL 118 83

The federal government continued operating under the Biden-signed December CR, which itself was an extension of the Biden-signed September CR, until March 15, 2025. On that date, President Trump signed into law the March CR, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (PL 119-4). PL 119 4

The March 2025 CR provided appropriations for the remainder of fiscal year 2025 at the fiscal year 2024 levels. The text of the law explicitly states this, and references previously enacted FY 2024 appropriations bills. Specifically, the March 2025 CR Jeffries refers to pulled forward levels enacted in the two FY 2024 minibuses signed into law by President Biden in March 2024 (PL 118-42 and PL 118-47). Notably, the March 2024 minibuses were the last “regular” appropriations levels enacted rather than a CR. House Passed CR

There can be no doubt that the current House-passed CR for fiscal year 2026 is written to President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 appropriations levels. This is made clear in Division A, Section 101, which explicitly references the prior CRs and minibuses.

Anomalies in the House-Passed CR

The House-passed CR does include a handful of anomalies, but these are largely technical in nature and are standard for inclusion in a continuing resolution. The only notable anomalies that are non-standard extenders or technical provisions are: (1) the provision of funding for security for Members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and Executive Branch officials, (2) allowing the District of Columbia to spend local funds in accordance with its local fiscal year 2026 budget, and (3) customary payment to the families of the late Representatives Sylvester Turner, Raúl M. Grijalva, and Gerald E. Connolly. Nothing in this list is inconsistent with the concept of a “clean” CR. There are no major policy riders.

The DeLauro-Murray “Alternative” CR

The Ranking Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees released an alternative CR two days prior to House passage of H.R. 5371. The Democrats’ version is not a clean CR. It would continue discretionary appropriations for four weeks, through the end of October, rather than seven weeks. In addition to extending appropriations for a month, it also provides for several major policy riders unrelated to the underlying appropriations under consideration. Examples include increasing funding for WIC, creating a new Inspector General for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), repealing key provisions of One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and permanently extending the Biden COVID Credits. As pointed out by my colleague Matthew Dickerson in his recent analysis, the DeLauro-Murray CR would increase spending by $1.5 trillion. None of the extra provisions in the DeLauro-Murray CR are necessary to continue government funding and prevent a shutdown. On its face, this is an unserious proposal intended to massively increase government spending on welfare programs while restraining the Trump Administration to administer taxpayer funds efficiently.

The Path Forward

In order to avert a shutdown, which is really just a temporary delay in nonessential government activities, lawmakers should continue funding at previous funding levels enacted by President Biden multiple times, then carried forward under President Trump. This would give Congress and the President the opportunity to continue working for the American people while coming to a longer-term deal on full fiscal year 2026 discretionary appropriations. This is the only clear pathway that both averts a shutdown and would not include an unsustainable increase in government spending.

Author

Brittany A. Madni

Executive Vice President

Brittany A. Madni is the Executive Vice President of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). She served as a Congressional aide and trusted senior advisor for a decade on Capitol Hill, developing a nuanced understanding of the legislative process with an emphasis on budget and appropriations strategy. Prior to joining EPIC, Madni was Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA). Madni helped Rep. Hinson start her office in 2021, where she was instrumental in developing the Congresswoman’s policy priorities and spearheading her work on the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving with Rep. Hinson, Madni served as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. House Budget Committee under Congressman Steve Womack (R-AR) and Congressman Diane Black (R-TN). There, she managed the health and tax policy functions, as well as oversight of the Congressional Budget Office. During her tenure on the Committee, she played a critical role in developing the 2017 Republican health reform bill, along with several enacted federal budgets. Madni also served as first Legislative Director for Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH), where she helped shape the then-freshman Congressman’s policy platforms and built his legislative team. She began her time as Congressional staff working for Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA), where she handled budget and health care policy, among other issues. Madni’s first jobs in Washington were a series of internships on Congressional committees, where she assisted with oversight of the administration. Madni holds an M.P.S. in legislative affairs from The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and a B.A. in English and political science from Boston College. Originally from Florida, she now lives in Virginia with her husband, their son, and their dog, Pepper.