Congressional leaders unveil bill to avoid government shutdown as deadline nears

Washington — Leaders in Congress on Tuesday unveiled a lengthy stopgap measure to keep the government funded into the spring, with just days to go to prevent a government shutdown. 

Congress has until Friday night to stave off a funding lapse, since lawmakers approved a continuing resolution in September to keep the government funded through Dec. 20. The new stopgap measure, with approval from the House, Senate and President Biden, would keep the government funded through March 14, giving lawmakers more time to reach agreement on new spending bills when the GOP controls both the House and the Senate.

The 1,500 page stopgap measure also includes a one-year extension of the farm bill, around $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in economic assistance to farmers.

The continuing resolution's release comes under the wire, with House leaders under pressure to abide by a 72-hour rule for members to review legislation before it's brought to the floor. Johnson said Tuesday morning that he believes in adhering to the rule, but with the end of week deadline fast approaching, he may be out of options.

The speaker also said that House Republican leadership is committed to passing the continuing resolution through the regular process, including by going through the House Rules Committee, where it's almost certain to face opposition from GOP hardliners that could further slow the path to passage. 

In a statement late Tuesday night, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he was "pleased these negotiations led to a bipartisan government funding agreement free of cuts and poison pills, while also securing Democratic priorities like millions for child care, workforce training and job placement, assistance for the Key Bridge rebuild, additional disaster relief funding and more."

Even before its release, lawmakers on the party's right flank had begun expressing opposition to the stopgap measure. Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican who sits on the Rules Committee, told reporters after the House GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning that "this is not the process that we signed up for," saying lawmakers are supposed to be able to amend and debate key legislation on the House floor. 

"We get this negotiated crap and we're forced to eat this crap sandwich," Roy said. "Why? Because freaking Christmas is right around the corner. It's the same dang thing every year — legislate by crisis, legislate by calendar, not legislate because it's the right thing to do."

Leadership could instead opt to bring the legislation to the floor under a procedure known as suspension of the rules, leaning on Democrats to reach a two-thirds majority needed for passage in order to get the legislation more swiftly to the Senate before the end-of-week deadline. 

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar acknowledged Tuesday morning that Republicans will need Democrats to approve government funding, saying the dynamic "has been the case this Congress," and "it will continue to be the case in the next Congress."

"This is a lesson for Speaker Johnson," Aguilar said. "Let's find solutions, let's tune out the most extreme voices in your conference, and let's find that consensus that will be necessary to fund government."

Johnson has previously expressed distaste for large end-of-year funding measures known as omnibuses, and pledged to avoid the practice of pushing through spending before the holiday recess. He defended the continuing resolution Tuesday, saying "it is not an omnibus" and arguing that it will put the party in a position to "put our fingerprints on what those final spending bills are" in the new year. And he noted that House Republicans are aiming to resolve the government funding fight earlier in the year, before the March 14 deadline.

Even with this week's tight timeline, lawmakers are expected to thwart the threat of a shutdown, with little appetite in Washington for a funding lapse.

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in the Senate, said ahead of the legislation's release Tuesday afternoon that negotiators should have already finished their work, but were delayed by "an eleventh-hour demand from the speaker." 

"We are heading into the holidays and the nation really needs a bipartisan package that will prevent a needless shutdown, keep our government open, and get much needed support to areas across the country that are recovering from disaster," Murray said. 

The speaker said lawmakers have been "working around the clock to get the CR done," noting that it was intended to be "a very simple, very clean" stopgap funding measure to get the party into the new year. But the Louisiana Republican said a "couple of intervening things" occurred, citing the devastation caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton earlier this year. Johnson said the stopgap measure includes disaster relief that is "critically important," and provides aid to farmers. 

"What would have been a very skinny, very simple clean CR, these other pieces have been added to it," Johnson said.