The last time Congress tried to fund the government to prevent a federal shutdown, it cost House Speaker Kevin McCarthy his job. This time, new Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., appears on track for a better outcome Tuesday as the House prepares to vote on a stopgap package to keep the government running into the new year. If approved, the Senate would act next, ahead of Friday’s shutdown deadline.
Quick Read
- Context of Government Funding Vote: The U.S. House is voting on a stopgap funding package to prevent a federal shutdown, following the recent ousting of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
- New Speaker Mike Johnson’s Approach: Johnson, R-La., proposes a unique two-part funding process, aiming for a more favorable outcome compared to his predecessor.
- Political Challenges for Johnson: Like McCarthy, Johnson faces difficulties in gaining enough Republican support and may have to rely on Democrats for bill passage.
- Details of the Proposal: Johnson’s proposal includes a continuing resolution funding some federal agencies until Jan. 19 and others until Feb. 2, without the deep cuts conservatives want and excluding Biden’s $106 billion request for Ukraine, Israel, and other needs.
- Opposition from Republicans: Some Republicans, particularly from the Freedom Caucus, express strong opposition to the bill and the approach of partnering with Democrats.
- Democratic Reaction: Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and his party are evaluating the proposal, emphasizing their refusal to accept extreme right-wing policy provisions in government funding.
- Bipartisan Approval Pressure: Johnson’s limited room for Republican defections forces him to seek Democratic support, echoing the situation that led to McCarthy’s ouster.
- Senate’s Stance: The Senate, with a Democratic majority, signals willingness to accept Johnson’s package, with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell supporting the House GOP package but emphasizing the need to address Biden’s funding requests for Ukraine and Israel.
- Implications for House Republicans: The continuing resolution highlights the challenges House Republicans face in achieving their spending cut goals, with past bills collapsing due to moderate opposition.
- Current Funding Situation: The government is currently funded at levels set in bipartisan agreements from 2022, with both parties having different views on the adequacy of these levels.
- Potential Automatic Cuts: If new budget terms are not agreed upon by spring, automatic 1% cuts across all departments will be triggered in April, a measure unpopular with both Republicans and Democrats.
The Associated Press has the story:
House to vote soon on a stoppage PKG, trying to avert govt shutdown
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP)
The last time Congress tried to fund the government to prevent a federal shutdown, it cost House Speaker Kevin McCarthy his job.
This time, new Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., appears on track for a better outcome Tuesday as the House prepares to vote on a stopgap package to keep the government running into the new year. If approved, the Senate would act next, ahead of Friday’s shutdown deadline.
The new Republican leader faces the same political problem that led to McCarthy’s ouster, and is unlikely to win enough support from his Republican majority to pass the bill on its own. Instead, Johnson will be forced to rely on Democrats to ensure passage to keep the federal government running.
Johnson has called it a “necessary bill” that he hoped would put House Republicans “in the best position to fight” for their conservative priorities in the new year.
Under his proposal, Johnson is putting forward a unique — critics say bizarre — two-part process that temporarily funds some federal agencies to Jan. 19 and others to Feb. 2. It’s a continuing resolution, or CR, that comes without any of the deep cuts conservatives are demanding. It also fails to include President Joe Biden’s request for nearly $106 billion for Ukraine, Israel, border security and other supplemental funds.
“I think it’s a very big mistake,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus.
Roy said there’s “a whole lot of opposition” among House Republicans to partnering with Democrats to pass the bill.
The Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party is “carefully evaluating” the proposal from the Republican leadership before giving approval.
“We remain concerned,” he said about the two-part approach. Veteran lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called it cumbersome, unusual and unworkable.
But Jeffries in a letter to Democratic colleagues noted that the GOP package met the Democratic demands to keep funding at current levels without steep reductions or divisive Republican policy priorities.
“We have articulated that we will not accept any extreme right-wing policy provisions in connection with funding the government,” Jeffries wrote.
With the House narrowly divided, Johnson cannot afford many defections from Republicans, which is forcing him into the arms of Democrats.
Winning bipartisan approval of a continuing resolution is the same move that led McCarthy’s hard-right flank to oust him in October, days after the Sept. 30 vote to avert a federal shutdown. For now, Johnson appears to be benefiting from a political honeymoon in one of his first big tests on the job.
“Look, we’re going to trust the speaker’s move here,” said Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-Ga.
The Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority, has also signaled its willingness to accept Johnson’s package ahead of Friday’s deadline to fund the government.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the House GOP package “will keep the lights on,” and he will support it.
But McConnell, R-Ky., noted that Congress still has work to do toward Biden’s request to provide U.S. military aid for Ukraine, Israel and other needs. Senators are trying to devise a separate package to fund U.S. supplies for the overseas wars and bolster border security, but it remains a work in progress.
If approved, passage of another continuing resolution would be a stunning capstone to the House GOP’s first year in the majority. The Republicans have worked tirelessly to cut federal government spending only to find their own GOP colleagues are unwilling to go along with the most conservative priorities. Two of the Republican bills collapsed last week as moderates revolted.
Instead, the Republicans are left funding the government essentially on autopilot at the levels that were set in bipartisan fashion at the end of 2022, when Democrats had control of Congress but two parties came together to agree on budget terms.
All that could change in the new year when 1% cuts across the board to all departments would be triggered if Congress fails to agree to new budget terms and pass the traditional appropriation bills to fund the government by springtime.
The 1% automatic cuts, which would take hold in April, are despised by all sides — Republicans say they are not enough, Democrats say they are too steep and many lawmakers prefer to boost defense funds. But they are part of the debt deal McCarthy and Biden struck earlier this year. The idea was to push Congress to do better.
