Mike Johnson-led House votes on bill to avert a government shutdown: Live updates
The House Freedom Caucus is officially a no
The conservative House Freedom Caucus officially announced its opposition to Johnson’s CR plan this morning.
The Freedom Caucus had initially pushed for the two-tiered “laddered CR” approach but opposes Johnson’s bill because it lacks spending cuts and conservative policy riders.
“The House Freedom Caucus opposes the proposed ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution as it contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American People,” the group wrote in a press release.
Democrats signal support for Speaker Johnson’s plan to avert a government shutdown
After trashing the idea of a two-step strategy to fund the government, House Democrats signaled Monday that they are open to backing Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan, significantly lowering the threat of a painful shutdown at the end of the week.
With a handful of conservatives rebelling against the stopgap funding bill, it means Johnson, R-La., must receive help from Democrats to get it through the chamber.
On Monday afternoon, House Democratic leaders said they are considering supporting the Johnson strategy. And across the Capitol, Johnson’s plan got a bipartisan boost from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggesting the continuing resolution, or CR, is likely to cruise through the Senate if it can first pass out of the House. The House plans to take up the bill Tuesday.
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The House will vote on the CR around 4:30 today
The House will vote on Speaker Mike Johnson’s two-step continuing resolution this afternoon around 4:30 p.m.
Many Democrats are expected to support the bill since the CR does not cut spending or attach other conservative policy riders, but they will formalize their position in a caucus meeting that’s happening this morning.
This plan funds the government at existing levels in order to avoid a shutdown that would begin at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.
The CR extends funding until Jan. 19 for the agencies dealing with Agriculture, Military Construction/Veterans Affairs, Energy and Water, and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
The remaining agency appropriations — for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and Science; Defense; Financial Services; Homeland Security; Interior and Environment; Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; Legislative Branch; State and foreign operations — will be extended to Feb. 2.