Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told House Republicans he wants to utilize a special fast-track process that will require cooperation from Democrats to swiftly pass the funding package that the Senate is poised to send over and end what lawmakers hope will be a brief government shutdown.
Johnson told Republicans about his desired play call on a Friday late afternoon conference call, two GOP sources told The Hill.
The process, called suspension of the rules, will bypass the immense difficulty of getting unified Republican support for a regular procedural rule — votes that have given GOP leaders regular headaches as Republican rebels make last-minute demands and leverage the razor-thin House majority.
But the suspension process requires a two-thirds majority for success, meaning he will need support from more than 70 Democrats.
The Senate is expected to pass the revamped funding package on Friday night. It includes five full-year funding bills and a stopgap measure funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for two weeks while negotiators hash out Democratic demands for reforms to immigration enforcement.
But because government funding runs out at midnight and the House still needs to approve the package, there will be at least a short funding lapse for large portions of the federal government.
Johnson said he hopes to pass the package in the House on Monday.
Many of you don’t get it. Republicans want to shut down the Federal Government, at least the parts they don’t like. They would absolutely love it if a Democrat could be blamed for it.
It needs dissolving, a shutdown isn’t the worst thing that could happen. Either way innocent people are going to suffer by design. But here’s the question for you. Is there any value or morality in compromising with a group that wants to kill or abuse every one they don’t like. Allowing them to continue killing and abusing some. As opposed to stopping it completely.
The Democrats were dangerously close to accomplishing something in the last shutdown. Almost impressing many. Till they predictably folded like a cheap TV tray. Getting little to nothing in return. The abuse continuing unabated. Maybe it’s better to be wrongfully accused of a shutdown by people who didn’t vote for you, and never were going to vote for you. And not be complicit in fascism. I mean, color me crazy. But maybe the Democrats should actually fight for the voters they have instead of trying to get the votes of people who will never vote for them.
Believe me, I very much “get it.” And I understand where you’re coming from, but they are planning to shut it down regardless by destroying the individual agencies.
All giving into Trump’s demands will do is to help give him more cover/credibility to the public while he continues to shuffle money away from where it’s supposed to be going and into DHS/ICE.
They were on the verge of folding last time, before the Dems capitulated while ahead.