Why the Funding Fight Matters and Democratic Options

It happens every year — sometimes even more frequently than that.

A fight is brewing over funding the government before a deadline at the end of September. On Friday, Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, passed a stop-gap measure to fund the government through Nov. 21.

This is all happening against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s summer of immigration raids, the deployment of the National Guard to Washington D.C., and the claw back of approved federal funding.

In this installment of 1A‘s weekly politics series, we talk about how this month’s government funding fight could turn into a shutdown, and what Democrats could demand in exchange for keeping the government open.

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy