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In Opposing Last Month’s Continuing Resolution, Nearly All Democrats Voted to Shut Down Welfare Checks, Too

AEIdeas

April 24, 2025

By Matt Weidinger

The Continuing Resolution (CR) Congress approved and President Donald Trump signed in March reflected a reversal of recent partisan roles on legislation preventing a government shutdown. That is, contrary to recent type, nearly all Democrats cast votes that would have shut down the federal government while Republicans overwhelmingly voted to keep it open. But that wasn’t the only role reversal reflected in the legislation. It also marked a rare example of most Democrats’ voting to shut down funding for welfare benefits, which they otherwise regularly support extending at levels set in the 1990s.

In the House, the legislation passed by a vote of 217 to 213, with all Democrats except Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) voting against it and all Republicans except Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) voting for it. In the Senate, all Republicans except Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) supported the legislation on passage, joined by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Sen. Angus King (I-ME). But Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), joined by eight other Democrats and Sen. King, provided the key votes required for the legislation to overcome a critical 60-vote hurdle to advance. That left Schumer “about as popular as chlamydia” among many Democrats, according to jocular Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA).

There was another role reversal embedded in this important legislation that received almost no mention: Democrats also voted to block an extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program. TANF provides states almost $17 billion in annual federal funds for welfare checks and other aid for low-income families with children. The program’s authorization is time-limited, and would have lapsed if not extended, as the CR did through the remainder of fiscal year 2025, which ends on September 30. 

As the table below displays, the TANF program has been regularly extended on a short-term basis in recent years (see here for pre-2019 extensions). As the Congressional Research Service summarizes, since 2010 “TANF extensions have been incorporated into stop-gap continuing resolutions or omnibus appropriations bills to fund all or most of the government, added to tax bills, added to unrelated legislation, or passed as stand-alone legislation.” Since it was created in 1996, TANF has been extended on a long-term basis only once, in legislation covering fiscal years 2006 through 2010. On over 60 other occasions, Congress has extended the program on a short-term basis—meaning for several months or sometimes even just days or weeks at a time.

As the table also displays, the March CR was the only example in recent years when Democrats did not overwhelmingly support legislation that included a TANF extension. Democrats in the past regularly objected to the fact that the TANF block grant has not been adjusted for inflation since it was set in the 1996 welfare reform law. That means the block grant has lost half of its real value over time. (The TANF caseload has fallen even faster, resulting in states now having more federal funds per recipient than ever before.) Despite those laments, Democrats regularly vote to extend current TANF funding—with the recent CR being a rare exception.

TANF extensions are often only one part of far larger bills like the CR, so many other factors may affect how Members vote. But the record reflects that the CR was an exceptional vote, not just in terms of most Democrats’ voting to shut down the government, but also in voting to shut down funding for welfare checks.

TANF Extension Laws since 2019     

Date of ExtensionExtension ThroughStraight Extension?Democratic SupportRepublican Support
January 24, 2019June 30, 2019Straight extension100.0%100.0%
July 5, 2019September 30, 2019Straight extension100.0%77.3%
September 27, 2019November 21, 2019Straight extension98.9%45.6%
November 21, 2019December 20, 2019Straight extension96.3%18.0%
December 20, 2019May 22, 2020Straight extension96.6%45.3%
March 27, 2020November 30, 2020Straight extension100.0%100.0%
October 1, 2020December 11, 2020Straight extension100.0%71.9%
December 11, 2020December 18, 2020Straight extension100.0%71.3%
December 18, 2020December 20, 2020Straight extension100.0%71.4%
December 20, 2020December 21, 2020Straight extension100.0%70.4%
December 22, 2020December 28, 2020Straight extension100.0%100.0%
December 27, 2020September 30, 2021Straight extension100.0%97.6%
September 30, 2021December 3, 2021Straight extension100.0%18.9%
December 3, 2021February 18, 2022Straight extension100.0%7.7%
February 18, 2022March 11, 2022Straight extension 99.6%27.1%
March 11, 2022March 15, 2022Straight extension100.0%100.0%
March 15, 2022September 30, 2022Straight extension, plus state plan requirement pertaining to victims of sexual harassment or domestic violence100.0%22.0%
September 30, 2022December 16, 2022Straight extension100.0%12.4%
December 16, 2022December 23, 2022Straight extension100.0%12.4%
December 23, 2022December 30, 2022Straight extension100.0%19.5%
December 29, 2022September 30, 2023Straight extension99.6%10.5%
September 30, 2023November 17, 2023Straight extension99.6%62.5%
November 16, 2023February 2, 2024Straight extension98.8%61.4%
January 19, 2024March 8, 2024Straight extension99.2%51.8%
March 1, 2024March 22, 2024Straight extension99.2%56.0%
March 9, 2024September 30, 2024Straight extension98.8%60.3%
September 26, 2024December 20, 2024Straight extension100.0%61.2%
December 21, 2024March 14, 2025Straight extension100.0%82.5%
March 15, 2025September 30, 2025Straight extension0.8%99.3%

Source: Congressional Research Service chronology of TANF legislation, and author’s calculation of votes from Congress.gov. Party support is calculated as a percentage of representatives in both chambers voting  for the legislation. Votes by independent members as well as “present” votes are excluded. Voice or unanimous consent votes are considered unanimous support.