House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has unveiled a “laddered” stopgap funding plan that seeks to avert the looming government shutdown.
The plan is unusual in that lawmakers usually extend funding for all programs until a certain date.
Mr. Johnson opted for the arrangement to avoid presenting a single, massive spending bill packed with various spending agendas, which would likely face opposition from those of his fellow Republicans who are laser-focused on fiscal restraint.
“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement.
“The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded-up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess,” he continued.
Under Mr. Johnson’s plan, funding for some spending bills (veterans programs and bills dealing with transportation, housing, agriculture, and energy) would be extended until Jan. 19.
Funding for others (including defense, the State Department, and Homeland Security) would be extended until Feb. 2.
Notably, Mr. Johnson’s proposal doesn’t include funding requested by President Joe Biden for Israel, Ukraine, and U.S. border security. He explained that this would allow for more discussion about issues on which there is much disagreement among lawmakers, such as more aid to Ukraine and how best to bolster border security.
“Separating out the CR from the supplemental funding debates places our conference in the best position to fight for fiscal responsibility, oversight over Ukraine aid, and meaningful policy changes at our Southern border,” Mr. Johnson said.
Reactions
The White House has criticized Mr. Johnson’s proposal, calling it “unserious.”“This proposal is just a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns—full stop,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“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.”
In order to avert a government shutdown, Congress passed a 47-day continuing resolution ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline, but then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to a series of demands to placate some GOP hardliners who opposed the stopgap measure. Among Mr. McCarthy’s concessions was an agreement on a rules change that allowed any single lawmaker to file a motion to vacate the position of speaker.
Ultimately, because of that rule change, Mr. McCarthy lost the gavel.
One of the GOP hardliners, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, expressed opposition to Mr. Johnson’s stopgap funding proposal.
Ahead of the prior Sept. 30 deadline for a government shutdown, some members of the House Freedom Caucus said that voters elected a GOP majority in the House to rein in out-of-control government spending and that Republicans should be prepared to use every tool available to push for spending cuts.
“We should not fear a government shutdown,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) said at a news conference at the end of July.
“Most of the American people won’t even miss [it] if the government is shut down temporarily.”
Some House Republicans disagreed, with Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) saying it’s an oversimplification to say most Americans wouldn’t feel the effects of a shutdown, adding that Republicans would end up taking the blame for it.
“We always get blamed for it, no matter what,” Mr. Simpson said at the time. “So it’s bad policy, it’s bad politics.”
“The entire debate is created around the monumental crisis that a shutdown would generate instead of focusing on the cause: excessive deficit spending and soaring public debt,” he wrote.
“The United States’ rising debt and deficit irresponsibility mean more taxes, less growth, and more inflation in the future.”
“Government debt isn’t a gift of reserves for the private sector; it’s a burden of economic problems for future generations. Sound money can come only from fiscal responsibility,” he wrote.
“Currently, we have none.”
