House Republicans on Saturday unveiled their stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown set to begin next weekend. But with just five legislative days left until the deadline, Congress has little room for error.
Just two and a half weeks into the job, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., opted to go with a two-step continuing resolution, or CR, over a more typical funding extension covering the entire federal government. The untested funding approach is aimed at appeasing far-right agitators in his GOP conference who despise CRs.
The House is expected to vote as early as Tuesday to give members 72 hours to read the text of the bill, according to two people familiar with matter. The plan does not include budget cuts or aid for Israel.
Under the two-step strategy — which Johnson and others have dubbed a “laddered CR” but which others have likened to a step stool — several spending bills needed to keep the government open would catch a ride on a short-term bill until Jan. 19, while the remaining bills would go on a CR until Feb. 2.
While I’m sure that’s the case, I don’t think that makes much of a difference. The whole government shuts down two weeks later, so doesn’t really separate the issues. It just make it easier for them to go over the cliff, since they won’t care about the harm being done, and won’t have to answer questions about voting against things their supporters care about while they’re trying to play hardball.
In other words, this doesn’t accomplish anything meaningful on its own, it just tries to put them in a better bargaining position so they can make stronger demands next year.