Cole to House and Senate Democrats: "This Is What You Asked For"
Washington, DC - Today, House Republicans delivered exactly what Democrats asked for: a clean, short-term continuing resolution that keeps the government open while negotiations continue on remaining appropriations bills. With the House having done its job with the passage of H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026, Senate Democrats face a choice: join us in keeping the lights on for the American people, or plunge the country into a needless, manufactured shutdown for the sake of partisan games.
Chairman Cole delivered the following remarks. Watch them here and read them below:
"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I won't take the 18 minutes that I have. I don't think I need it because the facts here are pretty clear. At the beginning of this process, I was asked to produce a clean bill for a limited period of time by my colleagues on the other side. That's what they asked to do so that we could continue negotiations on a package of three bills, which are going well quite now and are happening. Then, all of a sudden, we have extraneous demands for things unrelated to the day-to-day operation of the government.
"With all due respect, and I think additional negotiation on those topics could happen. I think the Majority Leader of the United States Senate actually signaled that could happen. But not attached to this particular bill. This is what my friends on the other side asked for: a clean bill. No partisan riders. No tricks. No things - and give it to us for a short period. I was told by my distinguished friend in the United States Senate, Senator Murray, 'Oh, no, we don't want to go all the way to January like the Trump Administration does. We just want to go into November.'
"I said, 'Great. I actually agree with you. I think we should keep this thing moving.' But the thing to keep moving is the appropriations bills that fund the government. Now if my friends want to shut the government down, they have every right to do so. You might do it today. You certainly have the power of the United States Senate to do that. But rest assured, you are doing exactly what Republicans did in 2013, and it did not work for them. They tied something unrelated to spending, Obamacare, and shut down the government. That was the wrong thing to do then. I said it was the wrong thing to do. And it was. You are doing the same thing now. It's nothing else. Now if you want to have negotiations on these other topics, they are important topics. And they ought to be negotiated. But what's happening is not some cut that's in this bill. We are not cutting anything. A measure that my friends [support], and was passed on a bipartisan basis as I recall, ran out. It's running out. Ok, we should probably talk about that. You don't do it on a CR.
"This is a manufactured crisis. You got exactly what you asked for. You asked for a clean CR. You got a clean CR.! You asked for a limited amount of time. You got a limited amount of time! You asked for negotiations on the remaining three bills. Those negotiations are under way. That's what this committee should be focused on. And that's all we are doing today, Mr. Speaker, is buying the time we all need to finish a process that we are all trying to restore and we think is broken. Now we have people dropping things out of the blue that were never intended to be in a CR. to try and create a sense of crisis and drama. If you think that moves us in the right direction, I disagree. I think that moves us in the wrong direction.
"I think keeping the government opened for the American people and negotiating good faith on bills where we are close to getting done and moving it through regular order is the right thing to do. I think provoking a government shut down is the wrong thing to do. You disagree? Vote no. Take your privilege and shut down the government of the United States. Something you have repeatedly condemned Republicans for when they did it – and rightly condemned them. But you are doing the same thing, and you know it. You absolutely know it. So, you want to shut down the government today, fine. We'll give the United States Senate the same opportunity if we vote to keep it opened. And if they want to shut it down, that's up to them. But we are at the table ready to negotiate. We are negotiating on the 3 bills we agreed to negotiate on right now. That's the work of the appropriations committee. Not this. And that's what the CR. would deal with.
"So my friends, when I give you what you asked for and you decide that's not acceptable, and you change it afterwards, and you drop unrelated items in, that's up to you. But let's not have any pretense about what's going on here. It's political theater. Political theater, that's all it is. But you are doing it at the risk of shutting down the government of the United States.
"So, Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to vote for this CR. I'm proud to work with my friends on the bills we were supposed to work with. I hope we can reach agreement and bring those bills to the floor in short order. With that, I urge a yes on the motion in front of us, and I yield back the balance of my time."
Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026
Short-Term Funding Extension Keeps Government Running, Strengthens Return to Regular Order
House Republicans have taken responsible action to keep the government open for the American people. This short-term, clean continuing resolution prevents harmful disruptions to our national security and the vital programs our constituents rely on. It ensures Americans aren’t needlessly punished and allows us to move forward in FY26 appropriations negotiations and regular order.
Chairman Cole's Opening Floor Remarks
