House Republicans Propose Plan To Prevent Government Shutdown

On Saturday, House Republicans revealed their proposal to stop a potential government shutdown scheduled for next weekend.

According to CNBC reports, time is of the essence, with only five legislative days left before the deadline.

The newly appointed speaker, Mike Johnson, decided to pursue a two-step continuing resolution (CR) instead of a typical full federal government funding extension. This novel funding method is meant to satisfy far-right members of the GOP conference who have expressed their disdain for CRs.

The House anticipates voting on this proposal as early as Tuesday, giving members a 72-hour window to read the bill's text. The current proposal does not include any budget cuts or assistance for Israel.

Johnson's two-step strategy, referred to as a "laddered CR," involves extending several spending bills necessary to maintain government operations until Jan. 19. The remaining bills will operate on a CR until Feb. 2.

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Despite its innovative approach, the proposal has been met with opposition from some House Republicans. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas expressed his disapproval shortly after the bill was released, opposing the clean CR on the social media platform X.

The plan aims to avoid a pre-holiday showdown and grant House Republicans more time to pass individual spending bills, all while incorporating staggered funding cliffs. However, it is uncertain whether the plan can get through the House, let alone the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Johnson believes that this two-step resolution will put House Republicans in a favorable position to fight for conservative triumphs, as he said in a statement after announcing the plan.

Still, the plan faces opposition from Democrats and the White House, who prefer a simple extension of government funding without any gimmicks. The unified Democratic opposition to the laddered CR might force the House to accept whatever CR the Senate passes.

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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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