What Does a Shutdown Have to Do With the Budget or Elon Musk? Here’s a Guide.

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A short-term spending bill, a 10-year budget plan and Musk’s cost-cutting team are all progressing at once.

Republicans in government are hard at work refashioning federal spending through three major efforts, proceeding along parallel tracks. They may seem to be all the same story — and they do relate to each other — but they each have their own goals, deadlines and constraints. Here, a guide to all three.

  • Potential changes: The bill would fund a portion of the budget — hundreds of billions of dollars — for the rest of the fiscal year.

  • Deadline: Saturday at 12:01 a.m.

  • Status: A House vote is scheduled for Tuesday.

If Congress doesn’t pass a bill to fund ongoing government programs by the end of Friday, there could be a shutdown.

Congress is supposed to pass yearlong spending bills before a fiscal year begins, through a process known as regular appropriations. That process often breaks down, so Congress frequently passes shorter-term spending bills every few months instead to keep the government funded. The latest such “continuing resolution” expires this week, and a new one, which would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, is on the table.


Each square represents $50 billion. Spending figures are projected outlays before any changes to budget authority in the bill.

Source: Congressional Budget Office

The New York Times

The appropriations process deals with only a portion of all federal spending — often called discretionary. It doesn’t affect “mandatory” programs like Social Security, which pay out benefits on a kind of autopilot, based on a formula. The resolution is also subject to a filibuster in the Senate, which means that at least seven Democrats will need to vote for it even if every Senate Republican supports it.

The current bill mostly allows the government to spend the same amount on most government agencies it has been spending all year, with a few key exceptions, including cuts to programs earmarked by lawmakers for their home districts, and an increase in military spending. Compared with last year’s funding, it reduces the amount allowed by around $7 billion — roughly 0.1 percent of the estimated $7 trillion in annual government spending.


Note: Each square represents $50 billion. The House budget requires at least $1.5 trillion in mandatory spending cuts. If cuts are less than $2 trillion, the amount of allowed tax cuts would be reduced. Tables released with the bill assume aggressive economic growth that would help cover the bulk of the deficit increase, but budget experts say the assumptions are unrealistic.

Source: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; Congressional Budget Office

The New York Times


Each square represents $50 billion. Figures are projections before any changes by DOGE.

Source: Congressional Budget Office

The New York Times