House Appropriations chairman calls for Democrats to reopen the government

Cole highlighted the success his committee has had in passing all 12 appropriations bills, which would create the federal budget for fiscal year 2026, ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. Most of those bills still need to clear the main chamber.

By Misty Severi

Published: October 8, 2025 8:45pm

House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole on Wednesday joined fellow Republican House leaders in calling for Senate Democrats to end the federal government shutdown as it heads into its second week.

The government officially entered the shutdown last week after Senate Democrats blocked the passage of a House-passed continuing resolution that would have kept the government funded at its current levels through Nov. 21.

Cole highlighted the success his committee had in passing all 12 appropriations bills ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline, which would have created the federal budget for fiscal year 2026. But most of those bills still need to clear the main chamber.

"We've had a pretty decent year in the House Appropriations Committee," Cole said. "The process was moving along pretty well. And then we had unrelated demands... It's hard to do much when the negotiations aren't happening, simply because the government is shut down. So again, we're prepared to work."

The chairman placed the blame on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, stating that the majority of the Senate has already sided with the House because there have been 55 senators voting in favor of the House bill. But the Senate needs 60 votes to pass the continuing resolution.

"This really does get down to Leader Schumer and the bulk of his caucus simply shutting down the government over items unrelated to what we normally do in Appropriations," he said.

"When [Senate Democrats] make the mind that they want the government up and running, we'll move very quickly, and we'll try to move quickly from a CR status to passing bills individually or in small groups, and get [the federal workforce] up and working again, get the government restored and continue that process as we're supposed to do," he added.

The House is on a "district work period" this week, but is expected to return next week for more votes.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.