Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Congress is racing to avoid a government shutdown days out from the funding deadline. Speaker Mike Johnson released a stopgap bill over the weekend to keep the government’s lights on through the end of September. The measure, which Democrats had no part in crafting, includes an increase in military spending and a reduction in nondefense money, as Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V report. It will need to pass the GOP-led House and Senate and be signed into law by President Donald Trump before midnight Friday to avert a shutdown. There are two major questions that will determine whether that becomes a reality. Can Johnson unite House Republicans? Johnson is eyeing a Tuesday vote in the House on the continuing resolution – and says he’s relying solely on the support of Republicans to pass it. That’s a tall order in the House, where Republicans hold a 218-214 majority. That means Johnson can afford only one defection, assuming all Democrats oppose the bill and all members are present. And he’s already likely lost one vote: Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has made clear he won’t support the stopgap bill. The challenge for Johnson will be keeping other conservative fiscal hawks in the fold, as well as Republicans who would prefer to see a bigger boost for defense spending. As he did during his speaker’s race and the budget resolution vote earlier this year, Johnson has a key voice in his corner: Trump, who has publicly urged congressional Republicans to support the continuing resolution. Some House Democrats could end up supporting the bill and give Johnson more breathing room, but the party’s leaders in the chamber are against the measure.
Will Senate Democrats vote for it? If the bill manages to make its way out of the House, the pressure would then fall on Senate Democrats. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, so they will need support from Democrats to cross the 60-vote threshold. And like in the House, a Kentucky Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, has already said he will vote against it. Democrats have demanded guardrails on Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk's attempts to slash federal spending, and they are under pressure from their base to more forcefully stand up to the administration. The stopgap funding bill is one of the few major pieces of legislation they will have some leverage on this year in GOP-controlled Washington. But voting down the measure and allowing a shutdown, even if it occurs under a Republican trifecta, could cause even more pain for the federal workforce and those who rely on government services. Read more → | 