Speaker: ‘Trust us’ on Republican plan to avert shutdown
Bill appears to have little chance of passing in Dem-run Senate
Congress appeared deadlocked Tuesday on a path to avert a federal shutdown in less than two weeks, as House Speaker Mike Johnson floated a plan to finance the government that drew criticism from senators of both parties.
Johnson, R-La., told Americans to “trust us,” as he pitched a staggered Republican approach to fund the government, one that has little chance of success in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hours later admonished the speaker and Republicans for fiscal brinkmanship.
Federal appropriations will lapse Nov. 18 if there is no action, affecting a wide array of federal services and the government’s more than 3 million civilian and military employees. The imminent funding deadline joins a to-do list on Capitol Hill that includes emergency aid for Israel and Ukraine, which also has no obvious path to passage amid fierce disputes among lawmakers.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference with families of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas, Johnson referred to a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday morning as a “refreshing, constructive family conversation” as members of his caucus push competing approaches to extending government spending laws.
“I’m not going to tell you when we will bring it to the floor, but it will be in time, how about that? Trust us: We’re working through the process in a way that I think that people will be proud of,” Johnson said. The speaker added that “many options … are on the table, and we’ll be revealing what our plan is in short order.”
The dominant approach that emerged from the meeting was a “laddered” continuing resolution, or CR, lawmakers said, though Johnson did not formally endorse that plan. It would consist of a stopgap bill that would continue funding the government at current spending levels and would have separate expiration dates for various federal programs and agencies, requiring Congress to take up discrete measures as each runs out of money.
“Having never heard of it before, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, a key member of the Senate GOP leadership. “I think it would be confusing and difficult to manage.”
The main alternative, preferred by a bipartisan majority of the Senate, is a single CR at existing spending levels.
It isn’t clear when such a shortterm spending law would expire. Under the agreement President Joe Biden worked out with House Republicans in late spring to suspend the federal debt ceiling, automatic spending cuts would
take effect in April if a short-term funding law were in place in early January.
The cuts would become permanent if the government were still operating on short-term funding laws by the end of April.
The impasse reflects the immense political challenge Johnson faces in trying to ensure the government stays open while remaining in office amid the GOP’s fierce internal divisions. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted last month after relying on Democratic votes to fund the government until mid-November, and it’s not clear Johnson will have much more room to work across the aisle than his predecessor did.
Johnson’s difficulties in funding the government are compounded by the major international crises the White House is pushing Congress to address.
The House last week approved a $14 billion aid package for Israel, along with two of the 12 bills necessary to fund the government. (The House has passed seven of the 12 so far.) But the House’s Israel funding bill is
a nonstarter in the Senate and White House because it includes cuts to the Internal Revenue Service that Democrats staunchly oppose.
The House-approved bills to fund different parts of the government, passed mostly by Republicans alone, also have no prospect of passing the Senate.
The Senate approved on a bipartisan basis three of the 12 bills necessary to fund the government and may vote on several more as soon as this week. Senate lawmakers are also looking at packaging funding to keep the government operational with aid for Israel and Ukraine. But these efforts have been complicated by a Senate GOP push to attach major changes to immigration policy, which Schumer panned Tuesday morning.
However, if the Senate can forge a bipartisan compromise, Johnson could find himself in a predicament similar to McCarthy’s: forced to either enrage the hard-right lawmakers who helped topple McCarthy or stand in the way of major bipartisan policy priorities.