House looks poised to reject GOP bill to avert government shutdown
Posted on 09/18/2024
The House on Wednesday appeared poised to reject Speaker Mike Johnson?s plan to fund the government for six months, cranking up tensions around a fast-approaching government shutdown deadline not only throughout Congress, but within Republicans? brittle House majority.
Close to a dozen Republicans are expected to join with Democrats to block Johnson?s bill, which combines a six-month extension of federal funds at current spending levels with a measure the House already passed requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in national elections. The Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House oppose the House bill, because of the length of the extension and because of the registration provisions.
Funding for the federal government expires Sept. 30, and without an extension, most federal government operations would shut down Oct. 1 as millions of Americans begin early voting in November?s election.
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Wednesday?s result is hardly in doubt. GOP lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum have said publicly for more than a week that they opposed the legislation. But Johnson (R-La.) has insisted there is ?no Plan B? to prevent a shutdown if the bill fails.
?We?ll see what happens with the bill,? Johnson told reporters Wednesday morning. ?We?re on the field in the middle of the game. The quarterback is calling the play. We?re going to run the play.?
Defense hawks have voiced worries that a six-month spending bill would hamstring national security spending, preferring a shorter extension that would give Congress more time to agree on new spending levels for the rest of the fiscal year. Deficit-minded Republicans rejected the stopgap spending bill, called a continuing resolution or CR, out of hand, since many of them will back only regular full-year appropriations measures.
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And House Republicans? personal rivalries surfaced again in a callback to the funding debacle that a year ago ousted Johnson?s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), from the speakership.
?The reality is that everybody knows that we?re ultimately going to get there, or feels that we?re ultimately going to get there; we just don?t know what that final product will look like,? said Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (Tenn.), a leading Republican fiscal negotiator.
Republicans and Democrats both broadly agree that a shutdown before the election would be practically and politically unpleasant. Democrats in both chambers and many Senate Republicans instead want a three-month extension that lets lawmakers work out final spending plans for the entire federal government in a lame-duck session after the election.
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?The one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election because certainly we?d get the blame,? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters Tuesday. ?One of my favorite sayings is, ?There?s no education in the second kick of a mule.? We?ve been here before. I?m for whatever avoids a government shutdown.?
Johnson attempted to force a vote on the legislation last week but pulled it from the House floor after it was clear that the bill would fail. The episode demonstrated that the factions of his slim and belligerent GOP majority were still warring with each other.
Far-right members generally oppose CRs, but are even more wary of year-end omnibus spending bills ? or annual spending bills that roll all 12 appropriations into a single massive piece of legislation. A six-month funding extension would have eliminated the chances of an omnibus during Congress?s lame-duck session, and the voting restrictions would have marked a victory on an issue that former president Donald Trump has falsely suggested could weigh on November?s elections.
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Noncitizen voting is already illegal in federal elections, and cases of voter fraud committed by noncitizens are practically nonexistent.
But some senior Republicans oppose the six-month bill in favor of a more conventional three-month proposal that would allow appropriators time to complete government funding legislation before a new president takes office ? even if it comes in the form of an omnibus. House and Senate Democrats, and a majority of Senate Republicans, prefer this approach, which adheres to a previous two-year spending agreement McCarthy struck with Biden and congressional Democrats in 2023.
?We?re going to insist on those top-line numbers being met as part of the agreement that you?ve already made with us, and we?re not letting these very, very extreme measures be added in, these riders. We?re not agreeing to that, and we?re not agreeing to anything less or more than we agreed to originally,? Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) said. ?You know what? When you?re good and ready, we?ll do it, but we?re not doing anything more than that.?
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A smaller group of GOP House members, including some that led the charge to oust McCarthy in 2023, say they would never vote for a CR that did not cut spending. Typically, CRs just keep funding going at existing levels, without significant cuts or increases.
Stuck among those camps, Johnson on Tuesday announced plans to put the measure to a vote, hoping a last-minute push would sway ?no? votes. He tasked Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) to rally additional support for the bill, but those efforts have been largely unsuccessful.
Many Republicans hope a failed vote will give Johnson leeway to advance a ?clean? three-month funding bill that can pass with votes from Democrats.
A similar tack from McCarthy led GOP hard-liners to boot him from the speakership, and Johnson?s future atop the Republican conference is an open question as conservatives battle to keep their majority.
Close to a dozen Republicans are expected to join with Democrats to block Johnson?s bill, which combines a six-month extension of federal funds at current spending levels with a measure the House already passed requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in national elections. The Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House oppose the House bill, because of the length of the extension and because of the registration provisions.
Funding for the federal government expires Sept. 30, and without an extension, most federal government operations would shut down Oct. 1 as millions of Americans begin early voting in November?s election.
Advertisement
Wednesday?s result is hardly in doubt. GOP lawmakers from across the ideological spectrum have said publicly for more than a week that they opposed the legislation. But Johnson (R-La.) has insisted there is ?no Plan B? to prevent a shutdown if the bill fails.
?We?ll see what happens with the bill,? Johnson told reporters Wednesday morning. ?We?re on the field in the middle of the game. The quarterback is calling the play. We?re going to run the play.?
Defense hawks have voiced worries that a six-month spending bill would hamstring national security spending, preferring a shorter extension that would give Congress more time to agree on new spending levels for the rest of the fiscal year. Deficit-minded Republicans rejected the stopgap spending bill, called a continuing resolution or CR, out of hand, since many of them will back only regular full-year appropriations measures.
Advertisement
And House Republicans? personal rivalries surfaced again in a callback to the funding debacle that a year ago ousted Johnson?s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), from the speakership.
?The reality is that everybody knows that we?re ultimately going to get there, or feels that we?re ultimately going to get there; we just don?t know what that final product will look like,? said Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (Tenn.), a leading Republican fiscal negotiator.
Republicans and Democrats both broadly agree that a shutdown before the election would be practically and politically unpleasant. Democrats in both chambers and many Senate Republicans instead want a three-month extension that lets lawmakers work out final spending plans for the entire federal government in a lame-duck session after the election.
Advertisement
?The one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election because certainly we?d get the blame,? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters Tuesday. ?One of my favorite sayings is, ?There?s no education in the second kick of a mule.? We?ve been here before. I?m for whatever avoids a government shutdown.?
Johnson attempted to force a vote on the legislation last week but pulled it from the House floor after it was clear that the bill would fail. The episode demonstrated that the factions of his slim and belligerent GOP majority were still warring with each other.
Far-right members generally oppose CRs, but are even more wary of year-end omnibus spending bills ? or annual spending bills that roll all 12 appropriations into a single massive piece of legislation. A six-month funding extension would have eliminated the chances of an omnibus during Congress?s lame-duck session, and the voting restrictions would have marked a victory on an issue that former president Donald Trump has falsely suggested could weigh on November?s elections.
Advertisement
Noncitizen voting is already illegal in federal elections, and cases of voter fraud committed by noncitizens are practically nonexistent.
But some senior Republicans oppose the six-month bill in favor of a more conventional three-month proposal that would allow appropriators time to complete government funding legislation before a new president takes office ? even if it comes in the form of an omnibus. House and Senate Democrats, and a majority of Senate Republicans, prefer this approach, which adheres to a previous two-year spending agreement McCarthy struck with Biden and congressional Democrats in 2023.
?We?re going to insist on those top-line numbers being met as part of the agreement that you?ve already made with us, and we?re not letting these very, very extreme measures be added in, these riders. We?re not agreeing to that, and we?re not agreeing to anything less or more than we agreed to originally,? Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) said. ?You know what? When you?re good and ready, we?ll do it, but we?re not doing anything more than that.?
Advertisement
A smaller group of GOP House members, including some that led the charge to oust McCarthy in 2023, say they would never vote for a CR that did not cut spending. Typically, CRs just keep funding going at existing levels, without significant cuts or increases.
Stuck among those camps, Johnson on Tuesday announced plans to put the measure to a vote, hoping a last-minute push would sway ?no? votes. He tasked Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) to rally additional support for the bill, but those efforts have been largely unsuccessful.
Many Republicans hope a failed vote will give Johnson leeway to advance a ?clean? three-month funding bill that can pass with votes from Democrats.
A similar tack from McCarthy led GOP hard-liners to boot him from the speakership, and Johnson?s future atop the Republican conference is an open question as conservatives battle to keep their majority.
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