Senate Republicans have the ambitious goal of jamming through funding boosts for defense and border security — separately from the appropriations process — ahead of a mid-March deadline to prevent a government shutdown.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this week that he told President Trump “it would be really helpful if we could give him the money for the border plan for four years before March 14.”
“It’d be really helpful if we had $150 billion of new money before March 14, because the discussions about funding the government are dramatically different,” he told The Hill. “And I think he buys into that.”
The strategy could help GOP lawmakers secure more leverage in funding talks, as Republicans have sought lower levels for nondefense programs, while Democrats have demanded parity in increases to both defense and nondefense spending.
But Republicans face enormous hurdles in moving such a plan out of Congress, despite controlling both chambers, as GOP leaders clash over how to advance key parts of Trump’s tax, defense and border agenda.
Republicans would move the border and defense money through a process known as reconciliation, which would allow them to bypass the 60-vote threshold normally needed to move bills in the Senate. But reconciliation is a lengthy and complicated process, normally taking far longer than the month remaining until March 14, and the chambers are already at odds over the first step.
House and Senate Republicans last week advanced two separate budget resolutions, which unlock the reconciliation process and outline requirements for the final bill.
The Senate resolution, which passed out of committee on Wednesday, seeks to allow upward of $300 billion to beef up border and national defense that Republicans hope to offset in the eventual package that results from the process.
The House followed suit shortly after, advancing out of the Budget Committee a broader budget blueprint that would also allow boosts in spending for border and defense, but it goes much further. In addition to paving the way for potentially trillions of dollars in spending cuts, as well costly extensions to Trump’s tax cuts and other potential tax wish list items, it also would allow for a $4 trillion increase to the nation’s debt limit — which comes as Congress is facing a ticking clock to act to prevent a national default later this year.
While Senate Republicans are also looking to pass significant tax legislation using the same wonky procedure later in the year, they’re opting to prioritize passing a narrower border and defense package to deliver an early win to Trump. The chambers would need to agree, and adopt, a strategy before they can move to a final bill.
Adding to the pressure on Republicans, lawmakers are beginning to acknowledge a stopgap funding measure of some kind will likely be needed to prevent a shutdown next month, even as the Trump administration is clamoring for more money for border security.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) didn’t rule out a full-year stopgap to keep the government funded through the end of the fiscal year, while keeping funding largely the same as when Congress last set spending levels almost a year ago, as lawmakers struggle to strike a bipartisan deal.
Senior Trump administration officials spoke to senators this week to stress the need for additional border funds at a closed-door meeting.
“Why would they come over and tell us begging for money if they didn’t want to move?” Graham told reporters afterward.
“I like the one big, beautiful bill approach that can do what they want to do,” he said, referring to the House GOP’s current strategy. “But if they can’t do it soon, I think they came over to create a sense of urgency that we need the money we need now for border and the military.”
Other GOP lawmakers are also pushing for Congress to move quickly on the proposed funding boosts, as Republicans press for more border wall funding and increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a spending cardinal, backed Graham’s push to greenlight the funding before the March 14 shutdown deadline.
“It sets the tone and it impacts your budget negotiations,” Kennedy said, adding he doesn’t think lawmakers are “going to be able to put together a 2025 budget.”
“I agree, too, so that we can manage seven Democrats in the Senate and get through a responsible appropriations package on March 14,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told The Hill on Thursday when asked about Graham’s comments.
“I’m in favor of moving any responsible measures forward. I think what Lindsey is putting forward, assuming the cuts would materialize, to pay for all that, is a responsible measure, to get border funding done and to move the ball down the field,” Roy said.
“I think what we’re trying to do in [the House Budget Committee] here, which is getting significant cuts and significant tax cuts, is also responsible,” he added.
Without congressional action, the government could see its first shutdown in years next month.
