Opinion – When Republicans demanded their Continuing Resolution (CR) almost six weeks ago, they told conservatives to be patient. “Give us six weeks,” they said, “and we’ll get back to regular order. We’ll pass the twelve appropriations bills, line by line, the way Congress is supposed to.”
Now, nearly six weeks later— with the CR unsigned and the government shut down, the Republicans have had their time… although in a manner they claim they didn’t want. They have got the six weeks they demanded, the six weeks they said they needed, the six weeks they insisted would restore fiscal sanity. And what have they accomplished? Nothing. Not one appropriations bill has cleared both chambers. Not a single meaningful vote. No real progress toward the return to constitutional governance they promised.
This was supposed to be the reset. Instead, it’s been a rerun.
The Promise of Regular Order
When the continuing resolution was proposed, the message was that this was “just to give us more time to do the job” The GOP would use the time wisely—returning to a disciplined process, restoring transparency, and stopping the endless cycle of massive omnibus bills that fund every wasteful corner of the federal bureaucracy…so they claimed.
Republicans told voters they just needed breathing room to do it right. They’d move the bills, cut the fat, and finally show America what responsible governance looks like.
But after five full weeks of shutdown, the clock has almost run out. The promised productivity has evaporated into the same Washington inertia voters are sick of seeing. The opportunity to lead has been replaced with silence.
Five Weeks, Zero Results
Let’s call it what it is: five weeks of nothing.
No votes on the remaining appropriations bills. No committee markups. No bold debates on spending priorities. Just a Congress on vacation while the fiscal crisis deepens.
The irony? Even as the political class wrings its hands over the shutdown, Republicans have effectively had their six weeks already. They’ve been given nearly six weeks of downtime—a window in which they could have been writing, debating, and passing the bills they said were so important.
If this period was truly about getting back to regular order, it’s been a spectacular failure. Republicans have done everything but legislate.
Democrats Caused the Crisis—Republicans Are Feeding It
It’s important to be clear about where this fiscal disaster began. Democrats built it. The Biden administration and its allies in Congress have driven federal spending into the stratosphere, weaponized agencies against citizens, and treated trillion-dollar deficits like rounding errors.
Democrats want dysfunction. They thrive on omnibus chaos—thousands of pages of pork, earmarks, and bureaucratic bloat rushed through at the eleventh hour with no transparency or accountability. The process itself shields them from responsibility.
But Republicans, who rightly blame Democrats for creating the shutdown crisis, now risk owning its continuation. They asked for six weeks to prove they could do better. They got those six weeks—whether by passage of the CR or the slow, grinding stalemate that followed. Yet they’ve delivered nothing.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
Every day that passes without a single appropriations bill is another victory for the status quo. It’s another day closer to yet another bloated omnibus spending package negotiated in secret and dumped on lawmakers’ desks hours before a vote. It’s another day the federal leviathan grows unchecked.
Republicans claim they want transparency, fiscal restraint, and constitutional government. But those principles mean nothing if the party doesn’t act on them.
The six-week lull was the perfect chance to prove that conservatism isn’t just about opposing Democrats—it’s about governing differently. It was a chance to demonstrate that Republicans could fund essential government functions without caving to the Left’s reckless priorities.
Instead, they’ve handed Democrats the narrative. Now, when the next shutdown looms, it will be the GOP—not Schumer—who look disorganized, distracted, and unwilling to lead.
The Lesson They Refuse to Learn
Conservatives have long argued that returning to regular order is key to fixing Washington’s dysfunction. They’re right. The Constitution grants Congress, not the President, the power of the purse. But that power means nothing if Republicans are too divided or complacent to use it.
This six-week stretch was supposed to prove that the party was serious about reform. It could have been a demonstration of competence and courage. Instead, it’s been a masterclass in wasted opportunity.
If Republicans had spent those six weeks pushing their spending bills through the House, they’d be in a position of strength right now—forcing Democrats in the Senate to negotiate and exposing the Left’s fiscal irresponsibility.
Instead, they’ll walk into the next funding deadline empty-handed, waiting for leadership to cobble together another last-minute deal.
Accountability Cuts Both Ways
It’s easy for Republicans to say the Democrats are to blame—and in many ways, they are. But the GOP can’t claim moral or fiscal authority while failing to act. Accountability applies to both sides.
When the government shuts down, the average American won’t parse the procedural history. They’ll remember which party said it needed six weeks—and then did nothing with it.
Republicans had a chance to lead. They had the mandate, the tools, and the time. What they lacked was the will.
The Path Forward
There’s still one way out. The House can start moving appropriations bills—today. They can force debates, draw sharp contrasts with Democratic priorities, and remind the public that fiscal responsibility still has champions in Congress.
But that requires a choice: either use the time they’ve been given—or waste it again.
Because the truth is this: Republicans have had their six weeks. While other people went without paychecks, Congress still got theirs. They should have been working to earn it.
The Democrats will still be to blame for the debt, the inflation, and the reckless spending that brought us here. But if Republicans don’t act now, they’ll be remembered not as the solution—but as the enablers.
In politics, time is the one thing you can’t get back. And for Republicans, the six weeks they begged for have already slipped away—along with their credibility.