US House speaker’s plan to avoid shutdown gains Democratic support
WASHINGTON U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avoid a partial government shutdown secured tentative support from top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer on Monday, even as some of Johnson’s hardline Republican colleagues pushed back against it. -
Senate Majority Leader Schumer, whose support would be critical to pass the measure to head off a government shutdown beginning on Saturday, said he was “pleased” that Johnson’s proposal did not include sharp spending cuts.
Representative Chip Roy, a prominent hardliner, blasted the measure for its absence of spending cuts and conservative policies, and because it would extend food assistance for poor families to Sept. 30. Without changes, the Texas Republican said he would oppose efforts to bring the bill to the floor.
“We got nothing - nothing,” Roy told reporters. “I’m certainly talking to my colleagues about our concerns. And I certainly hope that this bill is not going to proceed as it’s currently structured.”
Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said he was “carefully evaluating” Johnson’s proposal.
Despite an unusual structure that sets different funding deadlines for different parts of the government, Johnson’s CR amounts to a “clean” bill without spending cuts, policy provisions or other strings attached - the kind of measure that led to the historic ouster of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, by his right flank.
Congress is engaged in its third fiscal showdown this year, following a monthslong spring standoff over the nation’s more than $31 trillion in debt, which brought the federal government to the brink of default.
The ongoing partisan gridlock, accentuated by fractures within the narrow 221-212 House Republican majority, led Moody’s late on Friday to lower its U.S. credit rating outlook to “negative” from “stable,” as it noted that high interest rates would continue to drive borrowing costs higher. The nation’s deficit hit $1.695 trillion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
The plan would need to pass the Democratic-majority Senate and be signed into law by President Joe Biden by midnight on Friday to avoid disrupting pay for up to 4 million federal workers, shuttering national parks and hobbling everything from financial oversight to scientific research.
Johnson’s plan seems geared to find support from two warring Republican factions: hardliners who wanted different funding deadlines for different federal agencies and centrists who called for a “clean” vehicle without spending cuts or conservative policy riders that Democrats would reject.
His bill would extend funding for military construction, veterans benefits, transportation, housing, urban development, agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and energy and water programs through Jan. 19. Funding for all other federal operations, including defense, would expire on Feb. 2.
The bill is intended to pressure the House and Senate to agree on spending bills for fiscal 2024 by the assigned dates. Johnson warned Democrats that House Republicans would impose a full-year CR for 2024 “with appropriate adjustments to meet our national security priorities” if Congress fails to reach agreement on full-year spending.
The approach quickly came under fire from the White House and members of both parties.
Among hardliners in opposition, Good was joined by Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Warren Davidson, Scott Perry, Andrew Clyde and Chip Roy. Indicted Republican George Santos also said he would not back it.
“I will not support a status quo that fails to acknowledge fiscal irresponsibility, and changes absolutely nothing while emboldening a do-nothing Senate and a fiscally illiterate President,” said Perry, who chairs the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, on the X social media platform.