The House Rules Committee decided Monday to postpone a vote on a short-term spending bill that would avert a government shutdown, setting up a scenario in which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) may have to turn to Democrats to pass the controversial legislation.
Johnson's three-month continuing resolution, which would keep the government funded through Dec. 20, had been expected to be included on the list of bills to be approved by the Republican-controlled Rules Committee on Monday night, but it did not come up for debate after several Republicans voiced opposition to the measure.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a member of the Rules Committee, argued that the Speaker was “engineering a government funding crisis the week before Christmas” to pressure lawmakers to vote for a bill being written “behind closed doors.”
“Why Christmas? To take advantage of senators' desire to be with their families on Christmas Eve and pressure them to vote for a bill they haven't read,” the Kentucky Republican wrote to X.
“The whole thing should be funded over a year,” Massey said of his preferred method.
Without the rules, House Republican leaders are expected to send the spending bill to the floor under a procedure called suspension of the rules, which would require a two-thirds majority to pass.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) indicated he plans to bring the continuing resolution (CR) to a vote on Wednesday. CBS News.
Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives, and several Democrats would need to support a three-month time limit amendment to pass the bill.
Johnson, 52, announced his Plan B spending plans on Sunday after the House of Commons rejected his first proposal, which would have linked six months of cross-border lending to measures requiring proof of citizenship when voting.
“While this is not the solution any of us would like, it is the most prudent course under the current circumstances,” Johnson wrote in a letter to colleagues. “History teaches us, and current opinion polls prove, that shutting down the government with less than 40 days until a crucial election would be political malfeasance.”
Last Wednesday, 14 House Republicans joined the Democratic majority in rejecting the original CR bill, which would have faced stiff opposition in the Senate had it passed.
