Trump working with House Republicans for bill to fund government until September

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was working with Republicans in the House of Representatives on a continuing resolution to fund the government until September.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Government funding runs out next week. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday that he wanted to pass a "clean" stopgap funding measure to keep federal agencies operating at current spending levels through September and leave proposed cuts for legislation for the next fiscal year.

Johnson said on Tuesday that the text of a continuing resolution to keep the government funded, averting a partial government shutdown, would come out at the end of the week, according to Punchbowl News.

KEY QUOTES

"I am working with the GREAT House Republicans on a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until September to give us some needed time to work on our Agenda," Trump said in a post on social media on Wednesday.

"Conservatives will love this Bill, because it sets us up to cut Taxes and Spending in Reconciliation, all while effectively FREEZING Spending this year."

CONTEXT

Johnson has dispelled the notion that cuts identified by billionaire Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which Democrats vehemently oppose, could be included in a continuing resolution intended to avert a partial government shutdown when current funding expires on March 14.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)