It appears Capitol Hill was in a crisis a few weeks ago as lawmakers tried to avoid government shutdowns.
Well, you have good memories. But you don't have to have a long one. The reason is that a government-funded drama took place in Washington just before Christmas last year. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. thought he had formed an agreement that allowed him to pass the house with a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. Democrats will also pass through the Senate embracing a portion of their cargo to overcome the filibuster.
Everything seemed to be fine until lawmakers saw the size of the bill. President Trump – then presidential election – weighed. So did Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
And the bill was a toast.
Democrats turn each other over Trump's address stunts
President Donald Trump helped patrol the House Republican budget bill. (Getty Images)
Lawmakers rushed to build a slimmer bill to avoid the Christomas Time government shutdown and punted everything until mid-March.
guess what?
It's mid-March.
Lawmakers have failed to manipulate the overall spending package to run until next fall. This comes after the spending plan we are talking about was to be resolved last fall. In fact, many House Republicans complained that lawmakers failed to advance 12 individual spending bills through the book. Some of the houses have been completed. Senate? none. It was under the stewardship of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. when Democrats ran the show last year. Zero bills under new Senate Majority Leaders John Tune, John Toon and John Tune this year.
CNN was surprised by the “shocking” vote count showing public support for reducing Doge spending
Don't forget that Johnson seized the speech in October 2023 and committed to processing the budget invoices one by one. But reality has begun. The circumstances forced Johnson to move forward with multiple stop spending packages. They ultimately funded the government in April 2024 in 2023.
This is why we are constantly engaging in government funding crisis and providing funding.
House Republicans released textbooks for the interim spending bill over the weekend. It will update Biden-level funding numbers, but cut some social spending programs and Washington's City budget. However, the Pentagon funding has increased slightly. There are few democratic priorities reflected in the bill. But House Republicans who control the House are demanding that Democrats join them to help them pass the bill. If Republicans have a slim majority, they may need to vote democraticly. Rep. Thomas Massey said he was no unless he received the “lobotomy.”
Elon Musk and Vivek Lamaswamy (Getty Images)
When he appeared on NBC's “Meet the Press” last week, Johnson argued that “Democrats should help, as government funding is always bipartisan.
Since taking on the speech, Johnson has needed Democrats to pass the government fundraising bill. In fact, Democrats may have rescued Johnson's speech last spring. There were winks and nods that Democrats might try to buffer his attempts to expel him, especially as he was trying to support plans to fund Ukraine.
Johnson, along with his predecessor, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), faced a reem of criticism to create a spending bill to avoid government shutdowns that Democrats need to pass.
“Chair Johnson betrayed his betrayal (our trust) by handing over three CRSs to vote for the second omnibus after leaving the government open. The second omnibus is today.”
When temporary spending measures arrived last year, she threatened to remove the speaker.
“The bill was essentially a Democrat and the White House dreams and wish list. It was entirely led by Chuck Schumer, not our Republican House Speaker,” Green added.
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Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) was one of eight GOP members who voted to remove McCarthy as a speaker in 2023. Throughout the summer, Biggs criticized how McCarthy handled measures to avoid conflicts between spending invoices and debt caps.
“The speaker formed a coalition with the Democrats to get $4 trillion in national debt, and I'm still worried because he's not rejecting that coalition,” Biggs said in June 2023.
Former Congressman Matt Getz, R-FLA. McCarthy's violation? After the House stumbled to pass its own spending package before government funding in September 2023, McCarthy took clean spending measures on the passing floor with democratic help. McCarthy was out the door four days later.
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz is responsible for triggering the resolution that led to the ousterization of McCarthy. (Reuters)
“We force him into a monogamous relationship with either one,” Goetz said at the time.
A Florida Republican accused McCarthy of jumping with House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y.
So now House Republicans have written a bill that appeals to Republicans. And they hope Democrats will help them support it.
“The threat of a shutdown lies with them at that point, so they should be on board,” R-Texas Rep. Jake Elsie said.
Elsey said at least seven Senate Democrats would be required if all Senate Republicans support the package. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. However, it takes 60 years to overcome the filibuster.
“And if we shut down, it's on top of them,” Elsie said.
Democrats feel that GOP criticism is rich despite the conundrums of the Senate numbers.
“This is the question of why they can't govern,” I asked Congressman R-Calif. “You have a Republican president. You have a Republican home. A Republican senator. They should be able to get votes to fund the government.”
Rep. Ro Khanna questioned witnesses during a roundtable on Washington, DC Supreme Court Ethics Roundtable on June 11, 2024. (Allison Bailey/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Kanna also blows up GOP's “Take It or Leave It” approach when it wasn't part of negotiations for this particular bill. Democrats called for restrictions on DOGE, ensuring that there were no reductions in social programs and that the program would be maintained in federal agencies.
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“It's dishonest for them to expect democratic votes without compromising,” Kanna said. “You can't say, 'I'll vote for it on my terms.' ”
This could be a bumpy week. The house passes the bill and skips town, leaving the Senate holding the bag. Democrats are debating whether it's better to continue running the government to support federal workers. They are also afraid that government shutdowns will invite more cuts by Doge.
But this seems like a shutdown battle for other governments, but this is slightly different. When President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are involved, we can't expect things to go to the script. Some argue that interference with the December bill is merely an appetizer. By Friday night we will know if the threat of this government shutdown is the same as all other threats.
