Rep. Huffman Votes Against Republicans’ Partisan Government Spending Bill

Republicans’ Bill a Blank Check for Trump-Musk Chaos and Destruction

March 11, 2025

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (CA-02)issued the following statement regardinghis decision to vote against Speaker Johnson and House Republicans’ partisan government spending bill. This legislation prioritizes Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s extreme agenda items and ensures devastating cuts to key government programs.

“House Republicans’ partisan funding bill is a blank check that completely surrenders the federal government to President Trump and unelected billionaire Elon Musk. The consequences of the bullshit they just passed will be brutal. It’s a rubber stamp for more DOGE destruction – throwing veterans, seniors, and families under the bus in the process. On top of deep, debilitating cuts, Republicans tacked on a rule that blocks Congress from doing anything to stop Trump’s tariffs. This is a stunning abdication of congressional oversight at a time when Trump is using fake emergencies to justify tariffs that are crashing the economy,” Huffman said.

“House Democrats were ready and willing to support a bipartisan bill that included funding foressential government programs and put a check on this lawless administration, but these petulant children in the Republican conference refused to come to the table. Instead, they waved the white flag to the White House and Musk and passed a funding bill that lacks any guardrails – paving the way to cut Medicare, fund billionaire tax cuts, and let the administration do anything it wants with zero accountability.I would never vote for something that hurts our constituents and country so deeply. Republicans are complicit inTrump’s outrageous, authoritarian schemes and are responsible for the devastation this bill will cause for the American people.”

The Republican spending billfails to lower costs for the American people, harms our environment, and makes Americans less safe and less healthy. The bill:

  • Fails to lower the cost of housing and instead cuts rent subsidies for low-income and working Americans by more than $700 million, leaving landlords to foot the bill for or evict more than 32,000 households including veterans, survivors of domestic violence, seniors, and families with disabilities.

  • Would allow Elon Musk and President Trump to fire thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration, which would result in closures of Social Security offices, increased wait times, and unacceptable backlogs for Americans trying to access their earned benefits.

  • Enables Elon Musk to direct contracts to his companies like Starlink and SpaceX, while unvetted SpaceX employees have burrowed in the FAA, with no requirement for public transparency, fair competition, or Congressional approval – all while mission-critical jobs have been cut at the FAAand Elon Musk’s spaceships exploded during two failed space launches since January, causing major disruptions to air travelers.

  • Cuts Army Corps of Engineers construction projects that keep commerce safely flowing on our waterways, manage flood risk, and restore ecosystems by $1.4 billion, or 44 percent, and Elon Musk and President Trump, not Congress, will determine all project funding levels.

  • Reneges on veterans’ medical care and creates future uncertainty. More veterans are enrolled in VA care than ever. While the bill includes $6 billion in mandatory funds to address an immediate funding shortfall, it fails to include $22.8 billion in fiscal year 2026 advanced funding for the Toxic Exposures Fund to care for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances that House Republicans included in their own funding bill last year. It also frees Elon Musk and President Trump to redirect funding meant forhomelessness assistance grants, mental health care, rural health, opioid and substance abuse programs, some oncology programs, and caregivers support, however they see fit.

  • Gives Elon Musk and President Trump broad discretion to eliminate individual programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including programs impacting coastal and Great Lakes areas, as well as funding for climate change research and forimprovements in the forecasting of severe weather, after they already fired hundreds of weather forecasters.

Several House Natural Resources priorities at risk through this funding bill:

  • Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) – The DRF will not be able to get through the remainder of the fiscal year and will need an influx of funding to address disasters throughout this fiscal year – especially with an approaching wildfire and hurricane season.

  • Public Stewardship Partners – No ability to protect funding for National Heritage Areas, National Trails System, and other priorities. Without funding, these treasured American places could be understaffed, more dangerous, or cut off from public access entirely.

  • Power Marketing Administrations – Does not provide the requested budgets for daily operations and maintenance activities at the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs). PMAs provide electricity to more than 60 million people across 34 states, and without sufficient operating funds, customers are likely to experience energy cost increases and power disruptions.

  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Funding levels within the EPA are not specified, and the administration could eliminate funding for climate change, Environmental Justice, and PFAS research.

  • Renewable Energy – Funding within the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) could be eliminated, slowing down our transition to a clean energy economy.

  • Department of Energy’s Climate-Related Energy and Science Programs – Does not provide guidance to the $15 billion in climate-related funding that will then be at the whim of the administration to eliminate or hand out to Big Oil.

A fact sheet on how the Republican continuing resolution is hurting hardworking Americans is here.

A fact sheet detailing how this continuing resolution gives a blank check to Elon Musk and President Trump is here.