Washington — House Republicans will push quickly through a short-term spending bill, bypassing the House Rules Committee. Bipartisan agreement to keep government running It faced opposition from the committee’s conservative members.
House Republicans are expected to bring the three-month funding bill to a full-fledged vote under a procedure called a suspension of the rules, meaning it would need a two-thirds majority to pass. That would put House Speaker Mike Johnson in the position of once again relying on Democrats to pass the bill.
The bill is scheduled to come up for a vote on Wednesday, according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican.
The House Rules Committee was scheduled to vote Monday night on the measure for a full-fledged vote, but it was blocked by rules after Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Chip Roy of Texas said they would not support it. If the measure had been brought to a full-fledged vote under the rules, it would have required a simple majority to pass.
“Republicans need Democrats to keep the government running,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the committee’s top Democrat.
House conservatives have been pushing for months to pass 12 separate budget bills to support the government in the House. They argue that short-term bills would allow Congress to pass a massive spending bill, called an “omnibus,” at the end of the year, because lawmakers want to clear Washington for the holidays.
“I hope people don’t vote on this,” Massey said. “Why would you want to set up a shutdown crisis the week before Christmas? Why would you want to set up a shutdown crisis next spring? We can’t do that. We have to fund everything for a year.”
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, unveiled his latest plan on Sunday after the House rejected his original plan last week, which would have combined a six-month spending bill with a measure requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The new plan would fund the government at current levels until December 20, putting off the spending fight until after the November election. But it also risks ruining lawmakers’ December vacation if they fail to agree to extend funding into next year.
Johnson said in a letter to colleagues on Sunday that a three-month measure was “the only option left”.
“Our legislation will be very narrow and bare-bones (continuing resolution) that includes only the extensions that are absolutely necessary,” he said. “This prevents the Senate from blocking us with a bill filled with billions of dollars in new spending and unrelated provisions.”
While the resolution generally does not change funding levels, the three-month bill includes about $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service following the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The ballot measure that was part of the six-month funding bill that Democrats opposed is no longer attached.
“This is not the solution that any of us would prefer, but it is the most prudent course under the current circumstances,” Johnson wrote. “As history has taught us, and as the current polls confirm, shutting down the government less than 40 days before a fateful election is political malfeasance.”
Trump has called for a government shutdown if lawmakers fail to pass a voting measure known as the SAVE Act, even though it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections. Johnson sent a signal On Friday, President Trump said he might ease calls for a shutdown, adding that the former president “understands the situation we’re in.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the bipartisan negotiations that led to the funding agreement. Schumer said in a statement Sunday that he hoped Congress could pass legislation this week.
“This deal could have been done quite easily weeks ago, but Chairman Johnson and House Republicans chose from the beginning to listen to Donald Trump’s partisan demands rather than work with us,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday.
With Nicole Killion
contributed to this report.
