Congress set up a chaotic, high-stakes fight over spending at the end of the year, after both chambers voted on Wednesday to avert a government shutdown.
The Senate approved the stopgap spending bill – which will fund the government until December 20 – shortly after the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson turned to Democrats to help pass the measure amid GOP defections. It will next be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
Biden applauded Congress for “avoiding a costly government shutdown,” saying in a statement that it gives lawmakers “more time to pass full-year funding bills by the end of this year.”
Congressional leaders will now face a series of tough decisions right before the Christmas holiday. The political landscape will be vastly altered in the wake of the November elections, and Congress will be up against major deadlines not only for funding, but other key priorities as well. The outcome of the elections will determine how strong, or weak, a hand Johnson and other Hill leaders will have to play in spending talks.
Throughout the funding fight, Johnson faced demands from his conference as well as GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who publicly called for a shutdown unless Republicans secured passage of a controversial bill targeting noncitizen voting, known as the SAVE Act. Ahead of the vote, Trump also made a last-minute private pitch to some House Republicans on a hardline funding strategy that differed dramatically from what Johnson ultimately pursued, according to two GOP sources familiar with the conversation.
Johnson initially brought a funding bill that included the SAVE Act to the House floor, but it failed to pass last week, prompting the speaker to move on to “Plan B” – a funding bill without the voting provisions. Johnson had said that he believes Trump understands that House Republicans don’t have the votes to pass the SAVE Act.
But ahead of the funding vote on Wednesday, Trump phoned several House Republicans, including two who voted against the initial proposal on the floor last week, reiterating his calls that voting measures must be added to the government funding proposal. Trump told one of the GOP lawmakers in a call Tuesday that if the initial plan – with the voting measure – came up again, he wants the lawmaker to vote yes, one of the GOP sources said.
Several Republicans have made the case to Trump and his team that a shutdown would risk their ability to keep their House majority – as well as Trump’s ability to flip the White House, according to multiple GOP lawmakers and senior aides.
Johnson’s balancing act
For Johnson, the latest spending episode highlights the Louisiana Republican’s relentless struggle to balance keeping his right flank from all-out rebellion while also ensuring he can complete the basic functions of governing, a key concern for his more moderate, vulnerable members in swing districts, especially with just weeks to go until the election.
“A shutdown is bad governance, and it’s bad politics,” Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, told CNN about Johnson’s call. “I think he’s doing right.”
On Wednesday, Johnson needed significant Democratic support to make up for “no” votes within his own GOP conference.
The House vote was 341 to 82 with 132 Republicans and 209 Democrats voting in favor and 82 Republicans voting against. While more Democrats than Republicans voted to pass the bill, Johnson did secure a majority of his conference in support of the stopgap. The Senate vote was 78 to 18.
Relying on votes from Democrats has opened Johnson up once again to criticism from his right flank, though few Republicans expect the speaker will face any immediate political repercussions. GOP lawmakers say Johnson is expected to escape the fate of his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted by Republicans roughly one year ago after working with Democrats to avert a shutdown.
That’s in part because of Johnson’s existing relationships with his conference, which he has worked to maintain even as he pushes a bill unpopular with his conference. The day after Johnson’s leadership team unveiled the plan, the speaker personally attended a meeting of the House Freedom Caucus to discuss his lack of other options to keep the government open, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Yet it’s unclear if Johnson was able to convince any of those ultraconservative Republicans – who typically oppose government funding bills – to change their positions.
“It’s all the same thing over and over again,” said Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican and former Freedom Caucus chairman, who said he will oppose the funding bill.
Still, he acknowledged that Johnson had no other choice with Democrats controlling the Senate: “Nobody loves it. But, you don’t have many options.”
Johnson insisted on Monday that he is not concerned he could lose his gavel over the funding push.
“We have to make tough decisions in leadership. This is the last available option to us,” Johnson said. “None of us like it, but we can’t shut the government down 39 days before an election. It’d be political malpractice.”
While the government funding bill does not include the SAVE Act, it does include an additional $231 million for the US Secret Service to help the agency protect the 2024 presidential candidates. This comes after lawmakers have called for more resources in the wake of two apparent assassination attempts against Trump.
Pushing the funding deadline into late December raises questions over what strategy lawmakers will pursue to prevent a holiday season shutdown.
Many lawmakers, and conservatives in particular, oppose sweeping spending packages known as an omnibus, but Hill leaders could face pressure to either take that route or pass yet another short-term extension.
At a members-only meeting on Tuesday morning, Johnson promised his colleagues that he would not allow his conference to accept that dreaded massive year-end spending bill. But even his close colleagues privately say there are no other real alternatives if the narrowly divided House GOP can’t agree on a spending plan among themselves.
“In difficult times we (have) got to make difficult decisions. That is what is happening here,” Johnson argued. He vowed “we will fight” during the lame duck for GOP priorities.
“We will not do a Christmas omnibus,” he said after the meeting. “No way, not gonna do it.”
Johnson’s struggle over government funding is certain to play a major role in this fall’s GOP leadership race, which is expected to take place shortly after the November elections.
As that internal contest nears, Johnson’s own leadership deputies are working to shore up their own relationships across the House GOP. Several Republicans highlighted the outreach from House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
In recent days, for instance, Emmer’s team gave personally engraved hockey sticks to several House Republicans that thanked them for their service to the chamber. At least two Republican lawmakers said they received them shortly after they voted against the GOP stopgap spending bill, according to two GOP sources familiar with the matter.
“Hockey mementos are a long-standing tradition for Emmer, intended as a small token of appreciation for members of the House Republican team,” according to a third person familiar with the outreach.
This story and headline have updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Ted Barrett, Annie Grayer, Morgan Rimmer, Donald Judd and Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.
