In order to prevent a partial government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a 2-step GOP plan Saturday that would prolong government funding for specific agencies and programs until January 19 and for other programs until February 2.
This is not how a stopgap spending bill is usually approached.
Legislators typically extend funding for all programs until a specific date. In response to concerns raised by Republican lawmakers who wished to avoid having to deal with a massive spending bill right before the holidays, Johnson chose to adopt the combination approach.
“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson said in a statement after speaking with GOP lawmakers in an afternoon conference call. “The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.”
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Funding for Israel, Ukraine, and the US border with Mexico that President Joe Biden requested is not included in the bill, according to the AP.
According to Johnson, keeping the short-term, stopgap bill separate from Biden’s request for an emergency supplemental bill “puts our conference in the best position to fight for fiscal responsibility, oversight over Ukraine aid, and meaningful policy changes at our southern border.”
But some, from both sides of the aisle, were critical of the plan following the conference call.
“My opposition to the clean CR just announced by the Speaker to the @HouseGOP cannot be overstated,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, tweeted on X. “Funding Pelosi level spending & policies for 75 days – for future ‘promises.’”
The White House denounced the proposal as “unserious,,” unrealistic, and a danger to both domestic initiatives and national security.
“This proposal is just a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns—full stop. With just days left before an Extreme Republican Shutdown—and after shutting down Congress for three weeks after they ousted their own leader—House Republicans are wasting precious time with an unserious proposal that has been panned by members of both parties. An Extreme Republican Shutdown would put critical national security and domestic priorities at risk, including by forcing service members to work without pay. This comes just days after House Republicans were forced to pull two of their own extreme appropriations bills from the floor—further deepening their dysfunction. House Republicans need to stop wasting time on their own political divisions, do their jobs, and work in a bipartisan way to prevent a shutdown,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement.
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