Key Highlights :
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who has recently assumed the role of Speaker of the House, is facing a narrow window to corral an unpredictable GOP conference and avert a government shutdown. With just a week left before government funding expires, Johnson is sounding out support among Republicans about what to do and is expected to unveil funding legislation over the weekend. Hardline conservatives, usually loathe to support temporary spending measures of any sort, had indicated they would give Johnson some leeway to pass legislation, known as a continuing resolution, to give Congress more time to negotiate a long-term agreement.
However, this week, House Republicans had to pull two spending bills from the floor due to lack of support within their own party. Democrats have made it clear they will not support any funding packages that include policy wins for conservatives and are eager to play up the House Republican divisions and to pin any blame for a shutdown squarely on Johnson and his GOP colleagues. On the other side of the Capitol, the Democratic-held Senate took procedural steps Thursday that would allow it to take up a continuing resolution in time to avoid a partial shutdown.
Meanwhile, Johnson has floated the obscure idea of a “laddered” approach that would fund some parts of the government until early December and other federal departments until mid-January, as well as raised the idea of a funding package that would last into January. He has also proposed the formation of a new federal commission focused on slowing increases in the national debt that threaten the government’s ability in future years to finance the military and major entitlement programs relied on by seniors and the disabled.
A bipartisan group of senators are also pushing for a debt commission that could be lumped in with the continuing resolution. Additionally, Republican senators have demanded that Congress pass immigration and border legislation alongside additional Ukraine aid, kickstarting the work of a bipartisan group of senators who are considering a limited set of policy changes that could find favor with both Republicans and Democrats.
With the clock ticking, it is up to House Speaker Mike Johnson to find a way to bring together an unpredictable GOP conference and avert a government shutdown. It remains to be seen if Johnson will be able to bring together a bipartisan agreement in time to avoid a partial shutdown and keep the government running.