By Marianna Sotomayor, Jacob Bogage · The Washington Post (c) 2024
The House steamed toward a tense vote Wednesday to put off a looming government shutdown, even as Republicans threatened to rebel against House Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposed spending bill.
Scrambling to keep the federal government open past a midnight Saturday deadline, Johnson (R-Louisiana) is set to rely on Democratic votes to pass a stopgap funding bill before lawmakers head out of town for the holidays. The measure, called a continuing resolution or CR, would extend spending at current levels until March 14, and add $110.4 billion in emergency disaster funding. It also wrapped in several unrelated bipartisan measures – breaking a promise from Johnson that the measure would not break new ground on policy.
Republicans from the party’s far-right and more moderate wings all protested the way Johnson assembled the legislation, and billionaire Elon Musk – now a close adviser to President-elect Donald Trump – spent Wednesday blasting the legislation, calling it “criminal.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of that chamber’s GOP leadership team, also weighed in, calling the bill a “cramnibus” on social media, potentially indicating trouble in the Senate even if the measure passes the House.
No matter the outcome, Wednesday’s developments foreshadow a difficult fight for Johnson to retain his gavel when the new House votes for speaker Jan. 3.
House Republicans initially planned a narrow bill that only extended existing funding to avert a government shutdown, which will begin after 12:01 a.m. Saturday, and to distribute the emergency aid for survivors of natural disasters.
But Johnson late in negotiations added an additional $10 billion of aid for farmers – which opened the door to a slew of unrelated demands. Those included transferring control of the District’s RFK Stadium, a pay raise for members of Congress, new regulations for health plan administrators and federal support to rebuild Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge.
Johnson sought to portray the sprawling bill as unfortunate, but necessary, with Democrats still in control of the White House and Senate.
“By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come roaring back with the America First agenda. That’s where we’re going to run with gusto beginning Jan. 3 when we start the new Congress, when Republicans again are in control,” he said on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning.
But his decision to negotiate with Democrats and leave conservative priorities out of the measure infuriated House Republicans from across the ideological spectrum. Even some committee chairs and typically leadership-friendly lawmakers were musing Wednesday about abandoning the proposal, according to more than a dozen Republican lawmakers and aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to outline private, developing conversations.
Johnson’s move has irked Republicans so much that it has prompted discussions across corners of the conference about his ability to win the speaker’s gavel next term and who would be best to replace him as the top Republican in a GOP trifecta if he can’t.
“I am hearing from an increasing number of people, both inside and outside the Freedom Caucus, that they they’re not viewing how this was handled favorably,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), chair of the pugnacious ultraconservative Freedom Caucus, told The Washington Post.
Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, his co-chair for Trump’s cost-cutting nongovernmental “Department of Government Efficiency,” egged the rebels on throughout the day.
Musk wrote on social media that Congress should refuse to pass any bills until Trump takes office Jan. 20.
“I think that they need to put the fear God in the speaker in order to get this town to control spending,” Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Missouri), an outspoken member of the House’s DOGE caucus, told The Post.
Johnson told Fox he has heard Musk and Ramaswamy’s concerns and texted them that “any bill has to have Democrat votes” given the narrow GOP margins. Johnson said that Ramaswamy understood the speaker is in an “impossible position.”
Tw0-thirds of House members must vote for the bill for it to pass, because Johnson will bypass the usual process for floor votes. Several Republicans will be closely eyeing the outcome.
“The number of nos,” one House Republican against the bill said, will indicate to the conference how much opposition Johnson could have to discuss over the break whether the speaker can remain in power.
“Over the majority of members are not happy,” Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Florida) said. “It didn’t have to be this way.”
Johnson won’t be able to rely on Democrats to win the speaker’s election next year. So he’ll need 218 votes from his slim – and now greatly irritated – conference. House Republicans will have a narrower majority next term, beginning the year down one member after former representative Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) resigned, making it nearly impossible for Johnson to lose any support and hold onto his post.
In early 2023, it took 15 rounds of voting for then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) to become speaker, when Republicans had a five-vote majority. Johnson just has a three-seat majority.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) said Wednesday that he would vote against Johnson for speaker, underscoring his challenges on Jan. 3.
Still, some House Republicans said they’d stick with Johnson. Moderate Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) plans to vote for the funding package and acknowledged that Johnson has had a tough job passing legislation that requires Senate approval, since that body is led by Democrats until Republicans take over in the new year.
“There’s mainly Republican bills in the CR so I feel like he’s doing the best he can, but you got to make some horse trades, because that’s what Congress is,” he said. “But I think he’s doing a great job.”
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Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.