House Republicans move to avoid government shutdown amid intraparty opposition
Washington — House Republicans will fast-track a short-term spending bill after sidestepping the lower chamber's Rules Committee as the bipartisan measure to keep the government open faced opposition from the panel's conservative members.
House Republicans are expected to bring up the three-month funding bill for a floor vote under a procedure known as suspension of the rules, meaning it will need a two-thirds majority for passage. It puts House Speaker Mike Johnson in a position of, once again, needing to rely on Democrats to pass legislation.
The plan is to bring up the bill for a vote on Wednesday, according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican.
The House Rules Committee was set to vote on approving the measure for a floor vote on Monday night, but nixed the rule vote after Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said they would not support it. Had the measure come up for a floor vote under a rule, it would have needed a simple majority to pass.
"Republicans need Democrats in order to keep the government open," said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the committee's top Democrat.
House conservatives have for months pushed the lower chamber to pass the dozen individual appropriations bills that fund the government. The short-term bill, they argue, sets up Congress to pass a massive spending bill, called an "omnibus," at the end of the year as lawmakers are eager to ditch Washington for the holidays.
"I would encourage people not to vote for this," Massie said. "Why do we want to set up a shutdown crisis the week before Christmas? Why would we even want to set up a shutdown crisis next spring? We shouldn't. We should fund the whole thing for a year."
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, unveiled the latest plan Sunday after the House last week rejected his initial plan that paired a six-month funding bill with a measure requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The new plan would fund the government at current levels through Dec. 20, punting the fight over spending to after the November election. But it also risks spoiling lawmakers' December holidays if they can't reach another agreement to extend funding into next year.
In a letter to his colleagues, Johnson said Sunday the three-month measure is "the only option that remains."
"Our legislation will be a very narrow, bare-bones [continuing resolution] including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary," he wrote, adding that it prevents "the Senate from jamming us with a bill loaded with billions in new spending and unrelated provisions."
While continuing resolutions usually don't alter funding levels, the three-month bill includes about $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service, which comes after a second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. The voting measure that was part of the six-month funding legislation, which Democrats opposed, is no longer attached.
"While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances," Johnson wrote. "As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice."
Trump had called for a government shutdown if lawmakers could not get the voting measure, known as the SAVE Act, passed, despite it already being illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Johnson signaled Friday that Trump could soften his calls for a shutdown, saying the former president "understands the situation that we're in."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both from New York, praised the bipartisan negotiations that resulted in the funding agreement. Schumer said in a statement Sunday that he was hopeful that Congress could pass the legislation this week.
"This agreement could have very easily been reached weeks ago, but speaker Johnson and House Republicans chose to listen to Donald Trump's partisan demands, instead of working with us from the start," Schumer said Monday on the Senate floor.