The US House will vote Wednesday on a three-month government funding package, with just days left to avert a shutdown set to begin next Tuesday.
The stopgap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution or CR, is expected to pass the House despite opposition from some Republicans. Republican House speaker Mike Johnson unveiled the legislation on Sunday after his original funding proposal failed to pass last week.
Johnson’s original bill combined a six-month funding measure with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (Save) act, a controversial proposal that would require people to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote. Fourteen House Republicans and all but two House Democrats voted against that bill last Wednesday, blocking its passage.
Days later, Johnson announced that the House would move forward with a “very narrow, bare-bones CR” that will extend government funding until 20 December, conceding to Democrats’ weeks-long demands.
“Since we fell a bit short of the goal line, an alternative plan is now required,” Johnson said in a “Dear Colleague” letter sent Sunday. “While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances. 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.”
The new bill also includes an additional $231m for the Secret Service “for operations necessary to carry out protective operations including the 2024 Presidential Campaign and National Special Security Events”, following the two recent assassination attempts against Donald Trump.
Johnson intends to take up the continuing resolution under suspension of the rules, meaning he will need the support of two-thirds of the chamber to pass the bill. House Democratic leaders have indicated most of their caucus will support the funding package now that it is devoid of rightwing “poison pills”.
“I don’t think there’s any question that House Democrats want to govern,” Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic caucus chair, told reporters on Tuesday. “You’ll see tomorrow how many House Democrats versus House Republicans vote to avoid a shutdown.”
The bill is expected to attract significant opposition from hard-right Republicans, who have voiced staunch criticism of short-term continuing resolutions in the past.
“I would encourage people not to vote for this CR. There’s still time to do other things,” Thomas Massie, a Republican of Kentucky, said at a rules committee hearing on Monday. “And if we were going to do something, we should do a full-year CR. Why do we want to set up a shutdown crisis the week before Christmas?”
Massie suggested that Johnson is pushing a three-month stopgap measure to pressure Republicans to pass a much broader full-year funding bill, known as an omnibus, before their December recess.
Johnson firmly denied that accusation, telling reporters at a press conference Tuesday: “We have broken the Christmas [omnibus], and I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition … We’ll deal with that in the lame duck.”
Once the funding bill passes the House, it will advance to the Senate, which will have less than a week to pass the legislation to prevent a shutdown. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, voiced confidence that the chamber would move swiftly to pass the bill and send it to Joe Biden’s desk before next Tuesday.
“Both sides will have to act celeritously and with continued bipartisan good faith to meet the funding deadline,” Schumer said in a floor speech on Monday. “Any delay or last minute-poison pill can still push us into a shutdown. I hope – and I trust – that this will not happen.”
Schumer reiterated his frustration over the last-minute nature of the funding deal despite widespread expectations that negotiations would ultimately end with a three-month continuing resolution. Schumer blamed the delay on Trump, who had urged Republican lawmakers to reject any funding bill that did not include “election security” provisions.
“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 to reach a bicameral, bipartisan agreement,” Schumer said. “That is outlandishly cynical: Donald Trump knows perfectly well that a shutdown would mean chaos, pain, needless heartache for the American people. But as usual, he just doesn’t seem to care.”
It remains unclear how or when Trump might retaliate against Johnson for failing to pass a funding bill linked to “election security” measures. Johnson has downplayed any suggestion of a potential rift between him and Trump, insisting there is “no daylight” between their positions.
“President Trump understands the current dilemma and the situation that we’re in,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “So we’ll continue working closely together. I’m not defying President Trump. We’re getting our job done, and I think he understands that.”
