Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., speaks to a reporter after a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 25, 2025, in Washington.
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Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
With just hours left before the deadline for Congress to approve a spending plan and prevent the government from shutting down, Republicans and Democrats remain locked in a bitter standoff.
Democrats met with President Trump on Monday, but the meeting ended without a deal. No new talks were scheduled ahead of the midnight deadline. A lapse in funding would mean furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal employees and interruptions to public services.
Democrats insist any temporary funding deal must undo health care cuts passed earlier this year by Republicans and extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. GOP leaders are pressing for quick passage of a House-approved bill that would keep the government open through Nov. 21. Both parties accuse the other of playing politics.
Amid the impasse, Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., says Congress should change course.
In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, Johnson argued that lawmakers should not try to extract sweeping policy concessions from a short-term measure. Instead, he said Congress should approve a six-week continuing resolution and continue talks with the government running.
“I don’t think there should be a shutdown. I think shutdowns are stupid. I think a basic responsibility of Congress is to keep the government open,” Johnson said.
“The central question is, while we’re doing our negotiations to fund the government, should those negotiations take place with [the] government open or government shut? It is clear to me they should take place while [the] government is open,” he added.
Democrats have framed the shutdown threat as political leverage, but Johnson disagrees with that reasoning.
“A six-week CR is not going to be the last opportunity they have to address funding or appropriations over the course of the next year,” he said. “Six weeks is just six weeks — a year is 52 weeks. They are going to get another bite at the apple.”
Johnson, who has teamed up with Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to propose the Eliminate Shutdowns Act, says his bill would trigger automatic two-week extensions until lawmakers strike a deal.
“It just continues the previous year’s funding, and yet that is so much less disruptive than this absurdity we go through when we send people home,” he said.
You can listen to the full interview by clicking play on the button at the top of this article.
