Washington— Speaker Mike Johnson announced his latest plan to fund the government on Sunday after Congressional leaders reached a deal after the House rejection of Johnson’s open gambit last week, with a deadline of the end of the month to prevent a government shutdown approaching.
“As we fall short of the goal line, an alternative plan is now required,” Johnson said in a letter to colleagues announcing the new plan on Sunday.
Last week, Johnson moved forward with a vote on a six-month-long resolution to keep the government funded paired with a controversial non-citizen voting measure that Democrats see as a nonstarter. And with the opposition of a small group of House Republicans in the razor-thin GOP majority, the measure fell short of the necessary support for the passage.
On Sunday, Johnson confirmed that the House would now move forward with a three-month stopgap measure to keep the government funded without a vote measure, setting up a funding battle ahead of the holidays. so typical for Congress.
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Johnson said he took the step on Sunday to prevent the Senate from “stuck us with a bill loaded with billions in new spending and unrelated provisions,” saying a three-month continuing resolution was “the only option left.”
After the speaker’s plan failed last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer created a legislative vehicle for a Senate election if the House can’t find a way forward. Johnson said, unlike the Senate-led bill, the House legislation “will be a narrow, bare-bones (continuing resolution) including only extensions that are absolutely necessary.”
The legislation also includes $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service, which was enacted after the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. Lawmakers have been considering how to deal with the funding after the Secret Service said its resources thin stretch by the heightened level of protection after the first trial in Trump’s life.
For many House conservatives, most of whom oppose continuing resolutions, the new plan represents a situation they hope to avoid. Johnson acknowledged that it would be a disappointment for some, but he urged that “it is the most sensible course in the current situation.”
With a narrow majority in the lower chamber, Johnson faces a number of options after failing to unite House Republicans on the original funding bill, making work across the aisle necessary to prevent a government impeachment. Trump’s suggestion that Republicans should shut down the government if they can’t get a non-citizen ballot measure approved further complicates matters for Johnson. But on Friday, the the speaker gives a signal he hopes Trump will tone down his calls for a shutdown.
“As history teaches and current polls confirm, shutting down the government less than 40 days before an upcoming election would be an act of political misconduct,” Johnson wrote in a letter to colleagues.
Schumer on Sunday criticized Johnson in a statement, accusing the speaker of wasting “precious time” on reaching an agreement on how to fund the government, even as he celebrated the bipartisan negotiations that he said had taken place over the past four days.
“While I’m glad bipartisan negotiations quickly led to a government funding agreement free of cuts and poison pills, a similar agreement could have been reached two weeks ago,” Schumer said. “The government will run out of funds in just over a week from today. Time is of the essence, and I hope that Speaker Johnson and House Republicans will not waste any more time.”
New York Democrats said they hoped both chambers could pass a continuing resolution this week. Congress has until Oct. 1 to fund the government.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that House Democrats will “fully evaluate the spending legislation before consideration on the Floor” when they return to Washington this week.
“Congress is now on a bipartisan path to avoid a government that will harm every American,” Jeffries said.
Nicole Killion,
and
contributed to this report.
