Mike Johnson announces vote on bill to avoid government shutdown: How long does the financing last?
Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a “bare-bones” stopgap funding bill after bipartisan negotiations. A vote on it is expected as soon as Wednesday.
The House of Representatives rejected a continuing resolution bill last week that would have funded the US government for six months, opposed by defense hawks in both parties, and that included a poison pill for Democrats. Speaker Mike Johnson brought the bill to the floor with a controversial non-citizen voting measure attached, that would have been dead-on-arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
On Sunday, he unveiled a new “very narrow, bare-bones CR” which he said only includes “the extensions that are absolutely necessary.” The latest plan to temporarily fund the government came out of bipartisan negotiations among congressional leaders.
Mike Johnson announces vote on bill to avoid government shutdown: How long does the financing last?
The short-term funding bill will provide the government with three more months to hash out full-year funding bills kicking the can for the next shutdown face-off until just before the holidays. If the bill passes, it will avert a government shutdown, that would happen if Congress doesn’t pass a stopgap funding bill before September 30.
Pressure was on lawmakers to avoid letting the government close down with just a matter of days to go before the November 5 general election. “While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances,” Speaker Johnson told colleagues.
“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,” he added.
The bill also includes a little more than $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service. The agency has seen its resources strained as it beefed up protection of former President Donald Trump after there was an assassination attempt on him.
The continuing resolution will be reviewed by the Rules Committee on Monday afternoon and is expected to get a vote on the House floor as soon as Wednesday.
If it passes the House, it will then go over to the Senate for approval. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that this week “there’s a really good chance we can avoid the government shutdown with all the pain it would cause.” Lamenting that “precious time” had been wasted with the failed legislation last week, he added, “this same agreement could have been done two weeks ago.”