WASHINGTON—House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) vowed on Sept. 24 that Republicans wouldn’t take up an omnibus funding bill later this year.
“We have broken the Christmas omni,” Johnson said during a leadership press conference, referencing the Washington tradition of pushing all government funding off until the end of the year and passing it as a single, massive package called an omnibus, usually in December. “I have no intention of going back to that terrible tradition.”
Last year, Republicans were forced to push through a series of short-term funding extensions, called “continuing resolutions,” before ultimately wrapping funding up in March 2024 through the passage of “minibus” bills that included six appropriations bills in two legislative packages.
But this year, Johnson said, “We don’t want any ‘buses.’ There won’t be any ‘buses,’” indicating that he would fight for the passage of single-subject funding bills in the lame-duck session after the election.
The comments come as House leadership plans to push through the passage of a three-month continuing resolution on Sept. 25 under suspension of the rules. It’s highly expected to pass.
The legislation was originally going to be considered under normal order, but a vote on it was pulled from the House Rules Committee in light of conservative members’ opposition to the proposal.
It would primarily push the Sept. 30 funding deadline to December.
Johnson expressed regret over the necessity of a stopgap bill but said Republicans had been forced into the position by the Senate’s failure to pass any of its appropriations legislation: So far, the House has passed five appropriations bills, but none of these have been taken up by the Senate.
“We loathe [continuing resolutions] as much as anyone,” Johnson said. “But this is the situation that the Senate Democrat leadership put us in.”
Continuing resolutions are deeply unpopular with a broad swath of House Republicans, even when they include potential concessions from Democrats.
That unpopularity was on full display last week, when 14 Republicans joined 206 Democrats in voting down a stopgap that included the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act.
Several Republican critics told The Epoch Times that their “no” vote was based on general opposition to stopgap measures, arguing that the proposal had no chance of making it through the Senate or being implemented in time for the upcoming election. They called instead for more meaningful changes to Washington economic policy.
Johnson said that the failure of that bill makes the current stopgap proposal the Republicans’ “last available play.”
The measure includes $231 million in additional funding for the Secret Service, though the funding comes with conditions attached, primarily related to enforcing compliance with congressional investigations into the two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
Johnson presented the package as a moderate win for Republicans, saying that Republicans were able to prevent the addition of new funding presented by Democrats.
On Sept. 24, President Joe Biden indicated his support for the resolution.
House Democratic Conference Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) also indicated at the Democrats’ Sept. 24 weekly press conference that Democrats are on board with the proposal.
The House is expected to take the bill up on Sept. 25 before leaving town early to avoid a storm expected to hit the capital region later this week.
