Johnson rolls out plan B to avert government shutdown

House GOP leaders on Sunday unveiled a plan to keep the government funded for three months after Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) opening gambit to avoid a shutdown failed due to opposition from Republicans.

The continuing resolution (CR), which was the result of bipartisan negotiations in the House and Senate, would keep the government funded at current levels through Dec. 20 — setting up a holiday funding fight.

The three-month time frame is shorter than Johnson’s opening offer of a six-month stopgap, and the bill notably excludes a Trump-backed measure requiring proof of citizenship to vote.

Republican leaders are aiming to bring the bill up under a regular rule process, with a floor vote on the legislation by Wednesday, according to GOP aides. It would then head to the Senate ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline.

Johnson warned Republicans against a shutdown in a “Dear Colleague” letter on 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,” Johnson said, citing a McLaughlin & Associates survey that found two-thirds of likely voters oppose a government shutdown.

The bill also directs that $231 million to go the Secret Service, which has again come under scrutiny in the wake of an apparent second assassination attempt against former President Trump.

Johnson outlined the legislation to GOP lawmakers in his letter Sunday, saying: “Since we fell a bit short of the goal line, an alternative plan is now required.”

The Speaker added that the clean, three-month CR is intended “to prevent the Senate from jamming us with a bill loaded with billions in new spending and unrelated provisions,” and that the legislation is “a very narrow, bare-bones CR including only the extensions that are absolutely necessary.”

House Republicans will almost certainly need help from Democrats to pass the legislation. Many GOP lawmakers are expected to oppose the bill because of the lack of spending cuts, shorter time frame and exclusion of the voting bill, which hard-line conservatives and Trump pushed to be part of the final product.

Bringing the bill up under regular order, rather than fast-tracking it, could present a hurdle as it means the measure will need to clear a procedural vote. Such votes on rules, which govern the debate over a bill, are traditionally party-line affairs regardless of lawmakers’ views on the underlying legislation.

Throughout this Congress, however, hard-line conservatives have voted against rules to protest legislation they disagree with, opposition that, if large enough, could block the bill from being considered in the House.

The roughly three-month timeline is the duration preferred by Democrats and GOP defense hawks.

Conservatives, on the other hand, sought a longer stopgap through spring to lessen chances of a massive end-of-year omnibus spending package, and to potentially allow Trump more input regarding fiscal 2025 funding if he wins in November.

In a press call ahead of the stopgap text’s release, House GOP leadership aides said that the three-month timeline “does not necessarily mean we will be doing an omnibus in December” — hinting at another funding battle after the election.

The short-term spending bill is Republican leadership’s latest attempt at avoiding an Oct. 1 government shutdown after Johnson’s opening salvo in the spending talks failed last week. Fourteen GOP lawmakers joined with the overwhelming majority of Democrats to torpedo a six-month CR coupled with the voting bill, dubbed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act — dealing a blow to Johnson.

Johnson, nonetheless, has stressed that the six-month CR-plus-SAVE Act was the right “play call.” It was intended to put the focus on Democrats’ stance on voting issues and be an initial offer for negotiations, even though Republicans knew the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House would never approve it.

Democrats note that noncitizen voting is already illegal and exceedingly rare, and worry about burdening eligible voters.

Trump also seemed to complicate matters when he called on Republicans in Congress to not pass any CR, forcing a shutdown, unless Democrats approve the SAVE Act. But Republicans overwhelmingly say a shutdown would hurt them in November. Johnson, who has talked to the former president about the funding issues, said Friday that Trump “understands the situation” House Republicans are in.

Democratic leaders in both chambers lauded the proposed CR, while slamming Johnson and Republicans for their attempt to pass the partisan stopgap last week.

“As a result of a bipartisan and bicameral process recently underway, the continuing resolution currently under consideration is now consistent with the spending levels agreed upon in the Bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act. It is also devoid of any partisan, right-wing policy changes that House Republicans inappropriately attempted to jam into the appropriations legislation,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

“Upon our return to Washington, House Democrats will collectively evaluate the spending legislation in its entirety in advance of its consideration on the Floor.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) noted that he began the lengthy process of originating a funding bill in the Senate, saying “Hopefully, this vehicle will be unnecessary.”

“While I am pleased bipartisan negotiations quickly led to a government funding agreement free of cuts and poison pills, this same agreement could have been done two weeks ago. Instead, Speaker Johnson chose to follow the MAGA way and wasted precious time. As I have said throughout this process, there is only one way to get things done, with bipartisan, bicameral support,” he said.

The stopgap would keep funding in line with levels last hashed out by both chambers earlier this year.

It excludes $10 billion in additional funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) disaster relief fund that was previously included in House Republican’s initial six-month plan. But it does include replenishment of FEMA’s disaster relief fund.

A GOP leadership aide said negotiations with Democrats about the stopgap aimed to “keep only things that are absolutely necessary on the table and leave everything off the table.”

Funding for the Virginia Class Submarine program that was included in the earlier GOP-backed plan is also missing from the stopgap, as well as additional dollars to address what the Department of Veterans Affairs has warned is a potential $12 billion shortfall facing the agency for medical care for fiscal year 2025.

However, the 46-page bill also features a number of health-care extensions for the VA, including measures appropriators say would extend its authority to provide nursing care to veterans with “service-connected disabilities,” as well as the authority for the joint Department of Defense-Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Demonstration Fund.

The move comes after Congress passed legislation last week to address a more immediate $3 billion shortfall for the VA, as officials warned that benefit payments for veterans were at risk of being disrupted next month absent congressional action.

While the bill does include Secret Service funding, it is money allocated under the existing budget caps, rather than additional emergency funding.

House GOP leadership aides said the funding is “confined to help their immediate needs for campaign purposes,” as Trump and Vice President Harris enter the final stretch to Election Day.

GOP leadership aides did, however, say there will be “a number of conditions” on the funding, including meeting congressional demands as its panels, like the House task force formed to investigate the July assassination attempt against Trump, conduct oversight of the agency.

A source familiar with the negotiations said Democrats had pushed for emergency resources for the Secret Service while Republicans resisted. A House GOP leadership aide countered that Republicans had pushed for additional resources for the Secret Service, but only within the existing budget cap, including a “spend fast” to make more resources available.
A last-minute change increased the Secret Service money from $187 million to $231 million.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe earlier this month said the agency had “immediate” and “future needs,” adding “we also have the necessary need to make sure that we’re getting the personnel that we have, and that requires us to be able to have the funding to be able to hire more people.”

Republicans on Capitol Hill, however, have been skeptical of sending more money to the agency, with some arguing that it is grappling with a manpower allocation issue, not a funding issue.

Updated at 5:35 p.m.