Newly elected U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) walks from his office to the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on October 26, 2023 in Washington, U.S.Reuters/Sarah Silbiger Obtaining license rights
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday announced a Republican stopgap spending measure aimed at averting a government shutdown in a week, but the measure quickly drew opposition from members of both parties in Congress. I encountered
Unlike regular continuing resolutions (“CRs”), which provide funding to federal agencies for a specified period of time, the bill announced by Prime Minister Johnson would provide funding to some parts of the government until January 19th and others until February 2nd. will be provided. House Republicans want the bill to continue. Tuesday.
“This two-step continuing resolution is the legislation needed to put House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson said in a statement after announcing the plan to House Republicans on a conference call. ” he said.
House Republicans’ stopgap package did not include additional funding, such as aid to Israel or Ukraine.
The Democratic-led House and Senate must agree on a spending measure that President Joe Biden can sign by Friday or face a partial government shutdown for the fourth time in a decade, with national parks closed. As many as 4 million federal employees would be at risk of losing their paychecks. and disrupting a range of activities from fiscal oversight to scientific research.
Johnson, the top Republican in Congress, spoke on the spot a day after Moody’s, the last major credit rating agency to maintain the U.S. government’s highest rating of “AAA,” downgraded the country’s credit outlook from “stable” to “negative.” The measures to be taken have been announced. He said political polarization in Congress on spending was a danger to the nation’s fiscal health.
Louisiana Republicans appear to be appealing to two rival factions of House Republicans. Centrists had called for “clean” stopgap measures without spending cuts or conservative policy measures rejected by Democrats.
The bill extends funding for military construction, veterans benefits, transportation, housing, urban development, agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and energy and water programs through January 19, and provides funding for all other federal projects. The funding expires on February 2nd.
However, the plan quickly drew criticism from members of both parties.
“My opposition to the clean CR that the Speaker just announced to the @HouseGOP cannot be overstated,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus. said on the social media platform ‘X’ (previously known as Twitter).
“This is 100% clean, and I am 100% against it,” wrote Roy, who had called for spending cuts to be included in the new package.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz called Johnson’s bill “very complex,” adding: “All this nonsense is costing taxpayers money.”
“We’re going to get a clean score in a short period of time. The only question is, are we going to do it in a stupid, destructive way, or are we going to do it like adults,” Schatz said on Show X.
The stopgap measure would give lawmakers more time to fully implement a spending bill that would fund the government by Sept. 30.
Johnson warned Democrats that failure to reach a deal on spending in 2024 would push House Republicans to implement a “full year CR with appropriate adjustments to meet national security priorities.”
House Republicans are pushing for fiscal 2024 spending to be cut below the $1.59 trillion level agreed to in a May deal between Mr. Biden and former Prime Minister Johnson to avoid a default. But even that is only a small portion of the overall federal budget, which also includes mandatory spending on Social Security and Medicare, which exceeded $6.1 trillion in fiscal year 2023.
Mr Johnson, who won the speaker’s gavel less than three weeks ago, has no choice but to decide if his current plan fails to gain support for passage and he is forced to choose a standard CR acceptable to Democrats. ‘s political future could be at risk.
His predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was fired by eight Republican hardliners early last month after taking bipartisan action to avert a government shutdown on Oct. 1, when the 2024 fiscal year begins. . Mr. McCarthy chose the bipartisan path after hardliners blocked stopgap measures with Republican appeasement tactics.
Reporting by David Morgan.Editing: Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis, David Gregorio
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