After Speaker Mike Johnson's first two funding bills were blocked in the House, Republican leaders launched Plan C in a last-ditch effort to avert a government shutdown.
Mr Johnson laid out two options for keeping the government functioning during a closed session of the Republican conference on Friday, less than 12 hours before the midnight funding deadline.
As lawmakers go back to square one, the possibility of a government shutdown is becoming increasingly real.
The first option Johnson proposed was the same pro-Trump CR that the House blocked on Thursday. By contrast, his CR excludes the debt ceiling increase clause and continues to provide funding to the government until March 14th. Similar to Thursday night's vote, this CR will be voted on in abeyance, requiring a two-thirds majority for the measure to pass.
So this approach would require a majority of Democrats to support Johnson's bill. Almost all Democrats voted against the Trump-backed CR.
The second option put forward by Mr Johnson included three separate votes on the Clean CR, Disaster Relief and Farm Bills, which would be extended until March 14. This three-pronged approach would allow Johnson to push the bill through the Rules Committee, where only a simple majority would be needed for the bill to pass.
“This is not complicated,” said Republican Rep. Thomas Massey of Kentucky. said “Please separate the bills and vote separately. Vote for a clean CR” on Thursday's post on X.[,] Vote for debt limit[,] Vote for disaster relief[,] Vote for farm relief[.] Radical, right? Each issue will be billed separately. ”
“Single-Subject Bill,” Texas Republican Rep. Michael Cloud said “Please vote individually” on Friday's post about X.
Mr Johnson's first CR was introduced late Tuesday night after being postponed several times over the weekend. The original 1,547-page CR was met with a barrage of complaints from Republican lawmakers, MAGA allies, and even President-elect Donald Trump himself.
Mr Johnson promptly scrapped the first CR in less than 24 hours after intense scrutiny. After another day of intense negotiations within the Republican conference, Mr Johnson delivered a slim 116-page CR on Thursday, a far cry from the bloated bill he had originally proposed.
The lean CR was quickly put to a vote under a stay of execution that same Thursday evening, requiring support from two-thirds of the House for passage. Despite receiving enthusiastic support from President Trump, Johnson's CR ultimately failed, with 38 Republicans and nearly all Democrats voting to block the bill.
As lawmakers go back to square one, the possibility of a government shutdown is becoming increasingly real.
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